The World Health Organization (WHO) has sought to reassure the public over a hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship in the Atlantic, saying the spread is expected to remain limited, although additional cases remain possible.
WHO emergency alert and response director Abdi Rahman Mahamud said health authorities believe the outbreak can be contained if public health measures are followed and countries cooperate effectively.
At the same time, WHO officials stressed that the situation should not be compared to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This is not the start of an epidemic. This is not the start of a pandemic. This is not Covid,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s director for epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention.
The organisation also announced that it had distributed 2,500 hantavirus diagnostic kits to laboratories in five countries.
Additional cases confirmed
A second patient linked to the cruise ship outbreak has tested positive for hantavirus, according to Leiden University Medical Centre in the Netherlands.
Earlier, Radboud University Medical Centre had confirmed another positive case connected to the same outbreak aboard the MV Hondius.
Authorities say multiple infections have now been linked to passengers who later travelled across several countries after disembarking.
How the outbreak reportedly began
Investigators believe the outbreak may have started when a passenger contracted the rare Andes strain of Hantavirus infection during travel in Ushuaia, Argentina, possibly during a birdwatching excursion before boarding the ship.
Health officials suspect the virus then spread onboard during the voyage through prolonged close contact among passengers.
The Andes strain is considered unusual because, unlike most hantaviruses that spread through rodents, it can in rare cases transmit between humans.
Authorities say at least three passengers have died, while several others have either tested positive or are being monitored across multiple countries.
