MADRID (dpa-AFX) - The World Health Organization has clarified that a deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean poses a low global public health risk and is 'not the start of another COVID pandemic.'
Three people have died and several others have fallen ill aboard the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius, prompting a major international public health response involving countries across Europe, Africa and Latin America.
The first alert came from the United Kingdom, which notified WHO of the outbreak after passengers aboard the vessel developed severe respiratory illness during the trip from Argentina to Cabo Verde.
Hantaviruses are zoonotic viruses carried by rodents and are usually transmitted to humans through contact with infected animals or their urine, saliva or droppings.
The Andes strain, found in parts of Latin America, is the only known hantavirus capable of limited human-to-human transmission.
According to WHO, transmission generally requires close and prolonged contact, particularly among household members, intimate partners or healthcare workers.
'At this stage, the overall public health risk remains low,' WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news conference in Geneva.
WHO officials are clear that the outbreak is very different from the 2020 coronavirus pandemic which killed millions worldwide.
'This is not SARS-CoV-2. This is not the start of a COVID pandemic,' said Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO acting director for epidemic and pandemic management.
'Hantaviruses have been around for quite a while. We know this virus. It does not spread the same way that coronaviruses do.'
The first known patient developed symptoms on April 6 and later died aboard the vessel. His wife also became ill and died after being evacuated to South Africa, where laboratory testing confirmed hantavirus infection.
Prior to boarding, the Dutch couple had traveled through Argentina, Chile and Uruguay on a bird-watching trip, including visits to sites where the rodent species known to carry the virus is present.
Another passenger died on May 2 and while one man remains in intensive care in South Africa, his condition is improving, WHO said. Other patients have been transferred to hospitals in the Netherlands for treatment.
WHO said no passengers or crew currently remaining aboard the ship are showing symptoms.
The outbreak has triggered action under the International Health Regulations, the global framework designed to coordinate responses to cross-border health threats.
WHO said it is working closely with authorities in Cabo Verde, Spain, the Netherlands, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Argentina, alongside the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
Spain has agreed to allow the vessel to dock in the Canary Islands - an autonomous Spanish community - after Cabo Verde declined the request because of public health concerns.
WHO chief thanked Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez for what he described as an act of 'solidarity' and 'moral duty'.
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