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Andes virus reaches Europe: a narrative review on clinical challenges, diagnostic gaps and public health preparedness, 2026

Year: 2026

Type: review

Abstract: , 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.

Source: Eurosurveillance

DOI: 10.2807/1560-7917.es.2026.31.42.2600467