Two Finnish travellers possibly exposed to hantavirus on flight from Johannesburg

Two Finnish passengers may have been exposed to hantavirus during a flight from Johannesburg, according to Finland’s Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). The travellers have since returned to Finland and remain asymptomatic, authorities report.

The exposure occurred on 25 April aboard KLM flight KL592 from Johannesburg to Amsterdam, where a 69-year-old Dutch woman—previously infected on the MV Hondius cruise ship—fell severely ill mid-flight. Crew removed her from the aircraft due to her deteriorating condition, THL confirmed in a statement. The woman later died in a Johannesburg hospital on 26 April, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported.

Finnish authorities have contacted the exposed travellers as part of standard infectious disease protocols and directed them to healthcare monitoring. THL is coordinating with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and WHO to track the situation.

The cruise ship at the centre of the outbreak, originally departing from Argentina, has reported five confirmed and three suspected hantavirus cases, all identified as the Andes strain. Three passengers have died from the virus. The vessel is currently en route to the Canary Islands, with no Finnish nationals aboard.

Meanwhile, Finland’s Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is preparing to classify Andes virus infections as a communicable disease of general danger, enabling quarantine measures and infectious disease benefits for affected individuals.