AMSTERDAM/GENEVA, (Reuters) – Countries worldwide sought to prevent the further spread of the hantavirus on Thursday, after an outbreak on a cruise ship, by tracking those who had disembarked before the virus was detected and anyone who had close contact with them since.
Three people – a Dutch couple and a German national – died in the outbreak on the MV Hondius.
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In total, five people are confirmed to have contracted the virus, with another three suspected cases, the World Health Organization said. Hantavirus is usually spread by rodents but can in rare cases be transmitted person-to-person.
All passengers who disembarked in St. Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean, where the ship made a stop on April 24, have been contacted, the ship’s operator said. This included people from at least 12 countries, among them seven British citizens and six from the U.S.. The first confirmed case of hantavirus in this outbreak came in early May.
‘THIS IS NOT COVID’
The WHO repeated that the risk to the general public was low even if the Andean strain of the virus, found in several victims, can in rare cases be transmitted among humans.
This is not coronavirus, this is a very different virus,” Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO director of epidemic and pandemic management, told a press conference. “This is not the same situation we were in six years ago.”
The WHO said it was working on step-by-step guidance for when the dozens of passengers remaining on the ship, which is sailing to the Canary Islands, arrive there on Saturday or Sunday and the passengers disembark and travel home. None of these passengers currently have any symptoms.
CONTACT TRACING, MONITORING
The United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was closely monitoring the situation, adding that the risk to the American public was extremely low at the time. The U.S. CDC has classified the outbreak as a “level 3′ emergency response, ABC News reported.
President Donald Trump told reporters on Thursday he had been briefed on the hantavirus and expressed hope that it was under control.
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