Health

WHO Director-General: More Hantavirus Cases Expected

Is the WHO handling the MV Hondius outbreak with proper care or failing to act decisively on airborne transmission risks?

Published MAY 13

WHO Director-General: More Hantavirus Cases Expected

Story

Above: WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, on May 12. Image credit: Carlos Lujan/Europa Press/Getty Images

The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

The world should rest assured that the WHO is handling the MV Hondius outbreak with the level of care and coordination it demands. Following Spain's successful evacuation of the ship, the WHO will monitor the situation and devise responses in coordination with global health authorities and experts. Solidarity and sound preparation — not panic — are the right response here.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on X World Health Organization

Establishment-critical narrative

This outbreak should effect a dramatic change in the WHO's default approach to airborne infection. From the beginning, it downplayed the risk of airborne transmission, while quietly tightening precautions once the full scale of the outbreak became clear. The WHO must abandon this wait-and-see policy and adopt the full range of measures to contain the outbreak.

BMJ