Diya Banerjee

Your purpose should be bigger than you.

The Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda are battling new outbreaks of the highly infectious Ebola virus. The DRC has confirmed the deaths of at least 80 people, and Uganda has now confirmed one death as well. Al Jazeera’s Julide Ayger explains.

Happening today. Join @WHO R&D Blueprint consultation for #hantavirus (Andes) medical countermeasures Details below: who.int/news-room/even…

We live in a time when it is easy to close doors, to turn inward, to let fear harden into hostility. Tenerife and #Spain chose differently. You have written something into the record of how humanity responds to a crisis, and the @WHO will carry that record forward. Muchas gracias, Prime Minister @sanchezcastejon.

WHO is supporting the response to a #Hantavirus outbreak aboard a passenger ship in Tenerife, Canary Islands. Passengers and crew have disembarked under health monitoring measures as @WHO teams continue investigations and advise governments on next steps.

Bringing you all the information in real-time. Don't miss our updates on #hantavirus.

I want to express my support for the government of Spain & others as they manage the #hantavirus in close coordination with our @WHO colleagues. While the current public health risk from the virus remains low, it’s important that international health efforts ensure the safety of all, including passengers & crew of the MV Hondius.

WHO Technical note for the disembarkation and onward management of passengers and crew in the context of an Andes virus-associated cluster MV Hondius cruise ship. Read here: bit.ly/4u1BT5I + Management of contacts of Andes virus (ANDV) cases from the MV Hondius cruise ship. Read here: bit.ly/4noofau #hantavirus

Passengers and crew from the hantavirus-hit ship MV Hondius begin disembarking in Tenerife under an operation led by Spanish authorities and @WHO. Officials stress the outbreak “is not another COVID” and that the risk to the wider public remains low. news.un.org/en/story/2026/…

Just published: @WHO Technical note for the management of contacts of Andes virus (ANDV) cases from the MV Hondius cruise ship. who.int/publications/m…

I just spoke with Dr @FreddyBanza5, the @WHO staff still on board of MV Hondius, and captain Jan Dobrogowski to get the latest updates. I used the opportunity to express my appreciation @ECDC_EU and the Dutch medical teams on board. Last Tuesday, Freddy was deployed from the @WHOAFRO Emergency Hub on short notice to travel to Praia, Cabo Verde, following the request to conduct detailed epidemiological and environmental investigations before the ship could disembark. He immediately committed to serve on this mission. This is not the first major WHO operation Freddy has actively participated in. Since 2012, he has supported several Ebola responses in the region, served as the deputy regional incident manager for COVID-19, and as the incident manager for cholera in the DRC. #hantavirus

Our colleagues describing the #hantavirus response on ground. 🩵⬇️ Together. This is @WHO.

LIVE update on #hantavirus x.com/i/broadcasts/1…

#Hantavirus is not COVID, and the risk to the people of Tenerife is low because of the nature of the disease and the actions of the Spanish government. I commend Spain’s response, in line with the International Health Regulations, and the strong show of solidarity by Prime Minister @sanchezcastejon, the citizens of the country, and the people of Tenerife. @WHO will continue supporting in any way possible because this is important for the world and for Tenerife. Solidarity is the best immunity.

Mi más profundo agradecimiento a usted, señor Primer Ministro @sanchezcastejon, por la solidaridad de #España, su liderazgo y su compromiso de brindar atención crítica y apoyo a los pasajeros del crucero MV Hondius en las Islas Canarias. La OMS continuará trabajando estrechamente con su gobierno para garantizar una respuesta sólida, coordinada y eficaz frente al #hantavirus. Juntos, protegemos la salud y salvamos vidas.

This is solidarity and leadership in action ⬇️

Stay informed, stay protected and follow credible sources for your health information.

To the people of Tenerife, My name is Tedros, and I serve as the Director-General of the @WHO, the @UN agency responsible for global public health. It is not common for me to write directly to the people of a single community, but today I feel it is not only appropriate, it is necessary. I want to speak to you directly, not through press releases or technical briefings, but as one human being to another, because you deserve that. I know you are worried. I know that when you hear the word “outbreak” and watch a ship sail toward your shores, memories surface that none of us have fully put to rest. The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment. But I need you to hear me clearly: this is not another COVID-19. the current public health risk from #hantavirus remains low. My colleagues and I have said this unequivocally, and I will say it again to you now. The virus aboard the MV Hondius is the Andes strain of hantavirus. It is serious. Three people have lost their lives, and our hearts go out to their families. The risk to you, living your daily life in Tenerife, is low. This is the WHO’s assessment, and we do not make it lightly. Right now, there are no symptomatic passengers on board. A WHO expert is on that ship. Medical supplies are in place. Spain’s authorities have prepared a careful, step-by-step plan: passengers will be ferried ashore at the industrial port of Granadilla, far from residential areas, in sealed, guarded vehicles, through a completely cordoned-off corridor, and repatriated directly to their home countries. You will not encounter them. Your families will not encounter them. I also want to say something else, something that goes beyond the science. I personally thanked Prime Minister @sanchezcastejon for #Spain’s decision to receive this ship. I called it an act of solidarity and moral duty. Because that is what it is. I want you to know that the WHO’s request to Spain was not made arbitrarily. It was made in full accordance with the International Health Regulations, the legally binding framework that defines the rights and obligations of countries and the WHO when responding to public health events of international concern. Under those rules, the nearest port with sufficient medical capacity must be identified to ensure the safety and dignity of those on board. Tenerife met that standard. Spain honoured it. Nearly 150 people from 23 countries have been at sea for weeks, some of them grieving, all of them frightened, all of them longing for home. Tenerife has been chosen because it has the medical capacity, the infrastructure, and the humanity to help them reach safety. And because I believe that so deeply, I will be there myself. I intend to travel to Tenerife to observe this operation firsthand, to stand alongside the health workers, port staff, and officials who are making it happen, and to personally pay my respects to an island that has responded to a difficult situation with grace, solidarity, and compassion. Your humanity deserves to be witnessed, not just acknowledged from a distance. As I have said many times: viruses do not care about politics, and they do not respect borders. The best immunity any of us has is solidarity. Tenerife is demonstrating that solidarity today. The ship’s captain, Jan Dobrogowski, crew and the company operating the vessel have shown exemplary collaboration at this challenging time. On behalf of the World Health Organization, and on behalf of those passengers and their families around the world, I thank the people of Tenerife and everyone else involved. Please take care of yourselves and of each other. Trust in the preparations that have been made. And know that the WHO stands with you, and with every person on that ship, every step of the way. With respect, care, and gratitude, Tedros

Jenny Bloomfield Dog, Dandelions and a Blue Tit

Hope you’re following @WHO and our explainers and posts on #hantavirus. Keep following WHO and other credible public health sources for your health information.