Hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship not start of pandemic, UN health agency says

A hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship is not the beginning of a pandemic, according to the UN health agency. Maria van Kerkhove, an expert in infectious diseases at the World Health Organization (WHO), explained at a news briefing that this situation is different from six years ago with Covid-19 because hantavirus spreads through “close, intimate contact.” Health officials are quickly trying to track down many people who recently left the Dutch ship MV Hondius. On Thursday, the WHO reported that five out of eight suspected hantavirus cases have been confirmed. Three individuals have died, including a 69-year-old Dutch woman who had the virus. Her Dutch husband and a German woman also passed away, and health officials are looking into their cases. Normally, hantavirus spreads through rodents, but this outbreak marks the first time the virus has been transmitted between people, the WHO stated. The cruise, run by Oceanwide Expeditions, started its journey on April 1 from Ushuaia, Argentina, and is set to reach Spain’s Canary Islands on May 10. Around 150 passengers and crew members from 28 countries were on board at the start, but many left the ship on the island of St Helena on April 24. During Thursday’s briefing, van Kerkhove emphasized, “this is not Covid, this is not influenza; it spreads very, very differently.”