Hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship is serious, WHO officials say, but 'not COVID'

A cruise ship hit by a deadly outbreak of hantavirus received medical intervention this week while pausing offshore at Cape Verde, a country of islands off the Atlantic coast of Africa.

The World Health Organization (WHO), which is helping to coordinate a response to the infectious disease on and off the ship, called the ship MV Hondius, held a briefing Thursday, May 7.

Officials described the nature of the virus and actions being taken to provide care and safety for those onboard the vessel, as well as efforts to contain and track possible spread beyond those already diagnosed.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, explained that, although hantaviruses usually spread from rodents to humans, the strain in this outbreak – known as the Andes virus – can spread from person to person.

However, Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO acting director epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, noted that the Andes hantavirus strain only spreads through close contact. Medical personnel therefore need to take extra precaution, and patients infected with the virus have to remain isolated.

Kerkhove emphatically stated that the cruise ship outbreak is not the beginning of a new pandemic.

The ship is expected to dock at a port in the Canary Islands, a region of Spain formed by archipelago in the Atlantic on Sunday, May 10.

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