Andes virus reaches Europe: a narrative review on clinical challenges, diagnostic gaps and public health preparedness, 2026.
7 affiliations
- 1Laboratory of Virology and Laboratories of Biosafety, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani - IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
- 2National Biosafety Laboratory, National Center for Public Health and Pharmacy (NNGYK), Budapest, Hungary.
- 3European Union Public Health Reference Laboratories for Emerging, Rodent-borne and Zoonotic Viral Pathogens (EURL-PH-ERZV).
- 4Public Health Agency of Sweden, Solna, Sweden.
- 5Department of Medicine Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
- 6Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Lyssavirus Epidemiology and Neuropathology Unit, Paris, France.
- 7Division of Molecular Medicine and Virology, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
Abstract
BACKGROUNDUp to 2 July 2026, a total of 13 cases of Andes virus (ANDV) including three deaths were reported in connection to an outbreak on the cruise ship m/v Hondius, which departed from Argentina in April and subsequently travelled to Europe to evacuate the passengers. This event prompted all European health authorities to take action to limit the spread of the virus.AIMTo synthesise current knowledge on ANDV, with particular attention on laboratory diagnosis and capability gaps.METHODSA literature search on ANDV was conducted, with a focus on human infection, transmission, outbreak investigations, countermeasures and diagnostics. To provide context for the ship-linked outbreak, updates from official public health sources, including the World Health Organization and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control were used. Moreover, activities by European Union Public Health Reference Laboratories for Emerging, Rodent-borne and Zoonotic Viral Pathogens (EURL-PH-ERZV) were briefly presented.RESULTSAndes virus is unique among hantaviruses because of sustained person-to-person transmission. Diagnosis relies on integration of clinical and epidemiological information with molecular detection of viral RNA or serological evidence. At the time of the outbreak, European diagnostic preparedness was generally well established, but important gaps remained prompting rapid support from the EURL-PH-ERZV.CONCLUSIONSThe recent event demonstrated how a geographically restricted zoonotic infection can pose public health challenges beyond endemic areas. This highlights the need for strong collaboration between clinical services, public health authorities and reference laboratories to strengthen surveillance, early detection, risk assessment and diagnostic preparedness for emerging pathogens.
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BibTeX
@article{sberna2026andes,
title = {{Andes virus reaches Europe: a narrative review on clinical challenges, diagnostic gaps and public health preparedness, 2026.}},
author = {Giuseppe Sberna and Bernadett Pályi and Klara Sondén and Eliana Specchiarello and Aleksandra Pettke and Guilherme Dias de Melo and Silvia Meschi and Fabrizio Carletti and Chammiran Daniel and Zoltan Kis and Hervé Bourhy and Fabrizio Maggi and Johan Aarum and Jonas Klingström and Francesca Colavita},
journal = {Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.2807/1560-7917.es.2026.31.42.2600467},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42921680},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Andes virus reaches Europe: a narrative review on clinical challenges, diagnostic gaps and public health preparedness, 2026.
AU - Giuseppe Sberna
AU - Bernadett Pályi
AU - Klara Sondén
AU - Eliana Specchiarello
AU - Aleksandra Pettke
AU - Guilherme Dias de Melo
AU - Silvia Meschi
AU - Fabrizio Carletti
AU - Chammiran Daniel
AU - Zoltan Kis
AU - Hervé Bourhy
AU - Fabrizio Maggi
AU - Johan Aarum
AU - Jonas Klingström
AU - Francesca Colavita
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin
DO - 10.2807/1560-7917.es.2026.31.42.2600467
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42921680
AB - BACKGROUNDUp to 2 July 2026, a total of 13 cases of Andes virus (ANDV) including three deaths were reported in connection to an outbreak on the cruise ship m/v Hondius, which departed from Argentina in April and subsequently travelled to Europe to evacuate the passengers. This event prompted all European health authorities to take action to limit the spread of the virus.AIMTo synthesise current knowledge on ANDV, with particular attention on laboratory diagnosis and capability gaps.METHODSA literature search on ANDV was conducted, with a focus on human infection, transmission, outbreak investigations, countermeasures and diagnostics. To provide context for the ship-linked outbreak, updates from official public health sources, including the World Health Organization and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control were used. Moreover, activities by European Union Public Health Reference Laboratories for Emerging, Rodent-borne and Zoonotic Viral Pathogens (EURL-PH-ERZV) were briefly presented.RESULTSAndes virus is unique among hantaviruses because of sustained person-to-person transmission. Diagnosis relies on integration of clinical and epidemiological information with molecular detection of viral RNA or serological evidence. At the time of the outbreak, European diagnostic preparedness was generally well established, but important gaps remained prompting rapid support from the EURL-PH-ERZV.CONCLUSIONSThe recent event demonstrated how a geographically restricted zoonotic infection can pose public health challenges beyond endemic areas. This highlights the need for strong collaboration between clinical services, public health authorities and reference laboratories to strengthen surveillance, early detection, risk assessment and diagnostic preparedness for emerging pathogens.
SN - 1025-496X
SN - 1560-7917
ER -