WHO says now five confirmed cruise ship hantavirus cases

AFP | Washington

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

The World Health Organization said yesterday there were now five confirmed hantavirus cases from the Atlantic cruise ship outbreak, with three more suspected -- and warned further cases were possible.

Despite the three fatalities, the WHO insisted that the outbreak on the MV Hondius was not the start of an epidemic, or a repeat of the spread of Covid-19.

The UN health agency said it expected the outbreak to be limited -- so long as public health measures are properly implemented.

“So far, eight cases have been reported, including three deaths. Five of the eight cases have been confirmed as hantavirus and the other three are suspected,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyeus said.

“The species of hantavirus involved in this case is the Andes virus, which is found in Latin America,” he told a press conference in Geneva. He stressed that “none of the remaining passengers or crew on the ship are currently symptomatic”.

But given that the incubation period of the Andes virus -- the only species of hantavirus that spreads between people -- can be up to six weeks, he warned that “it’s possible that more cases may be reported”.

Morale on ship improving

The Dutch-flagged ship left Ushuaia on the southern tip of Argentina on April 1 for a cruise across the Atlantic Ocean to Cape Verde off the coast of West Africa.

On Wednesday it set sail north from Cape Verde towards Tenerife, from where the passengers should finally be able to be repatriated.

Tedros said he had been in regular contact with the ship’s captain, including earlier yesterday.