The head of the World Health Organization has said he does not believe the deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship has similarities with the start of the Covid pandemic.
The MV Hondius cruise ship has been at the centre of an international alert since Saturday, when the WHO was informed that three passengers had died amid suspicions of a hantavirus outbreak aboard.
The rare disease is usually spread from infected rodents through urine, droppings, and saliva, but the Andes strain, which has now been confirmed in three cases, is transmissible between humans.
Speaking to AFP at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, the UN health agency’s chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus downplayed the danger, insisting that “the risk to the rest of the world is low.”
When asked if the WHO saw similarities with the emergency at the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, he said, “No, I don’t think so.”
While there had been multiple meetings to coordinate partners and respond, he said that so far he did not see the need to call an emergency committee meeting on the hantavirus situation.
Nonetheless, Tedros described a scramble to respond, and in particular to ensure the evacuation of three people believed to be infected with the virus from the cruise ship, which has been anchored off Cape Verde since Sunday.
“Three of the patients have been evacuated just a couple of hours ago,” Tedros said, acknowledging that his team had had “a bit of a sleepless night because we have been preparing for this evacuation.”
The three are on their way to the Netherlands, while the Hondius is expected to soon set sail for Spain’s Canary Islands. The WHO chief said medics had joined the ship, including staff from his agency, adding that “we will continue to monitor and support the people in the ship, and also monitor the situation outside.”
