The World Health Organization said Thursday that more cases of hantavirus could emerge but expected the outbreak to be “limited” if precautions are taken, after the disease killed three passengers from a cruise ship.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists in Geneva that five confirmed and three suspected cases had been reported overall, including the three deaths.
“Given the incubation period of the Andes virus, which can be up to six weeks, it’s possible that more cases may be reported,” he said, referring to the rare strain detected aboard the MV Hondius, which can be transmitted between humans.
His prediction was proved swiftly correct, with the Leiden University Medical Centre in the Netherlands announcing later on Thursday that another patient had tested positive.
But the WHO’s emergency alert and response director insisted: “We believe this will be a limited outbreak if the public health measures are implemented and solidarity shown across all countries.”
People thought to have contracted the virus are being treated or isolating in Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and South Africa.
“This is not the start of an epidemic. This is not the start of a pandemic. This is not Covid,” WHO epidemic and pandemic preparedness director Maria Van Kerkhove insisted.
Hantavirus is a rare respiratory disease usually spread from infected rodents and can cause respiratory and cardiac distress as well as haemorrhagic fevers. There are no vaccines and no known cure, meaning treatment consists solely of attempting to relieve symptoms.
A passenger is thought to have contracted the virus before boarding the ship in Argentina and eventually infected others on board as it sailed across the Atlantic.
Three evacuees were whisked away from the ship on Wednesday and a fourth landed on Thursday in Amsterdam. No symptomatic individuals are present on board the ship at the moment as it sails toward the Spanish island of Tenerife.
A Dutch man who had boarded in Ushuaia, Argentina, along with his wife died aboard the ship on April 11. The deceased man’s wife later died in South Africa after also falling ill, with hantavirus confirmed as the cause on May 4. A German passenger died on May 2, and her body remains on the ship. Officials are trying to trace people on a commercial flight that carried an infected passenger from Saint Helena to Johannesburg.
