WHO faces deadlock over pandemic treaty amid crisis over hantavirus outbreak

"WHO negotiators left Geneva on May 1 without managing to finalize the key annex meant to activate the global pandemic treaty approved in 2025. The mechanism designed to prevent a repeat of the inequities seen during COVID19. a hantavirus outbreak was beginning to trigger international alarm. The next day, health authorities reported several confirmed and suspected cases aboard the Arctic cruise ship MV Hondius, which had departed from Argentina."

"Seeing a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship is unexpected, but not entirely surprising, given how people travel the world and how we interact with animals. The specialist stresses that the pathogen involved the Andes virus is the only hantavirus in which persontoperson transmission has been documented, and although the risk to the general population is low, the episode deserves very close international attention because of the possibility of new cases appearing in different countries."

"For Vora, the outbreak's overlap with the diplomatic deadlock in Geneva is not merely symbolic. In recent weeks, we have seen the negotiation of the annex regulating the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing System [PABS] fail, and that is a loss for everyone, he says. That annex is the cornerstone that should transform the pandemic treaty into an operational tool: it's the mechanism that will establish how countries share samples and sequences of viruses with pandemic potential and, in return, receive timely access to vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics when an emergency"

WHO negotiators left Geneva on May 1 without finalizing a key annex meant to activate a global pandemic treaty approved in 2025. The treaty aims to prevent repeat inequities seen during COVID-19. The next day, health authorities reported confirmed and suspected hantavirus cases aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship departing from Argentina. The Andes virus is the only hantavirus with documented person-to-person transmission. While risk to the general population is low, the situation warrants close international attention because new cases could emerge in different countries. The outbreak coincides with failed negotiations on the annex regulating the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing System, which is intended to govern sharing of samples and sequences and provide timely access to vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics during emergencies.

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