The World Health Organization (WHO) says the hantavirus outbreak linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship is not the beginning of another global pandemic.
Speaking during a press briefing on Thursday, WHO officials
said hantavirus spreads very differently from COVID-19 and currently poses a
low public health risk.
Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO infectious disease epidemiologist,
said authorities were not facing a repeat of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I want to be unequivocal here. This is not SARS-CoV-2. This
is not the start of a Covid pandemic. This is an outbreak that we see on a
ship,” she said.
Van Kerkhove explained that the Andes hantavirus spreads
mainly through “close, intimate contact,” unlike COVID-19 or influenza, which
spread more easily through the air.
“This is not Covid, this is not influenza, it spreads very,
very differently,” she said.
Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general said eight cases
have so far been identified, including three deaths.
He noted that five of the cases have been
laboratory-confirmed while three remain suspected.
Ghebreyesus said previous outbreaks showed that
human-to-human transmission only occurred after “prolonged contact,” which
appears to have happened in this case.
“Hantaviruses are a group of viruses carried by rodents that
can cause severe disease in humans. People are usually infected through contact
with infected rodents or their urine droppings or saliva,” he said.
“The species of hantavirus involved in this case is the
Andes virus, which is found in Latin America and is the only species known to
be capable of limited transmission between humans.
“In previous outbreaks of Andes virus, transmission between
people has been associated with close and prolonged contact, particularly among
household members, intimate partners, and people providing medical care. That
appears to be the case in the current situation.”
Tedros noted that when the first patient developed symptoms
on April 9, hantavirus was not initially suspected and no samples were
collected.
He said the patient’s wife later disembarked when the ship
docked at St Helena before dying in Johannesburg, South Africa, where tests
later confirmed hantavirus infection.
The WHO director-general said more cases could still emerge
because the disease has an incubation period of up to six weeks, but the
organisation still assesses the wider public health risk as low.
Tedros disclosed that he contacted Spanish Prime Minister
Pedro Sánchez on Monday to request that Spain accept the ship after the
outbreak.
The vessel is now heading to Spain’s Canary Islands, with
passengers ordered to remain in their cabins and anyone showing symptoms
instructed to isolate immediately.
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