The World Health Organization (WHO) says the hantavirus outbreak linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship is not the beginning of another global pandemic, despite the number of infections and deaths already recorded.
WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, disclosed on Thursday that five of the reported cases aboard the MV Hondius have been confirmed as hantavirus, while three others remain suspected.
“So far, eight cases have been reported, including three deaths,” he said during a press briefing.
“Five of the eight cases have been confirmed as hantavirus, and the other three are suspected.”
The ship, carrying nearly 150 people, is expected to dock at Tenerife in the Canary Islands within the next three days as health authorities continue to monitor the situation closely.
Although WHO warned that additional infections could still emerge because the Andes virus can incubate for up to six weeks, the organisation maintained that the overall public health threat remains low.
“While this is a serious incident, WHO assesses the public health risk as low.”Health officials disclosed that two doctors, alongside infectious disease specialists from the WHO and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, are currently onboard carrying out medical assessments on passengers and crew members
“Given the incubation period of the Andes Virus, which can be up to six weeks, it’s possible that more cases may be reported,” Dr Tedros said.
We assess the risk to the people of the Canary Islands as low.”
The outbreak attracted global attention after 29 passengers disembarked at the South Atlantic island of St Helena, including a Dutch woman who later died during onward travel while accompanying her husband’s body for repatriation.
Her husband had reportedly died aboard the ship on April 11
Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO infectious disease epidemiologist, said authorities were not facing a repeat of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I want to be unequivocal here. This is not SARS-CoV-2. This is not the start of a Covid pandemic. This is an outbreak that we see on a ship,” she said.
Van Kerkhove explained that the Andes hantavirus spreads mainly through “close, intimate contact,” unlike COVID-19 or influenza, which spread more easily through the air.
“This is not Covid, this is not influenza, it spreads very, very differently,” she said.
