The Finnish government has added the illness caused by the Andes virus to a list of contagious diseases considered a public health risk in Finland.
The classification means that exposed individuals forced to stay away from work are eligible to receive compensation.
Social Security Minister Sanni Grahn-Laasonen (NCP), however, said the virus "posed a very small public health risk at the moment."
Two people in Finland may have been exposed to hantavirus on an airplane last month, according to the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).
The Andes virus is a type of hantavirus spread by rodents in South America. The Andes strain can spread from person to person and has previously caused an outbreak on the cruise ship MV Hondius in the Atlantic. Three of those who fell ill on the ship have died.
No vaccine nor medicine exists to treat the disease caused by the virus.
