“This is not COVID,” a WHO spokesman told reporters at a briefing in Geneva, as the agency continues to coordinate the response to the deadly outbreak on a cruise ship docked in Cabo Verde.
To date, three people have died and several others have fallen ill on board the Dutch-flagged vessel Hondius, prompting a major international public health response involving countries in Europe, Africa and Latin America.
“Let’s not forget from couples who were close … from a flight attendant who handled the sick woman who died shortly after and was extremely unwell, we get negative test results. That should convince almost everyone by now that this is a dangerous virus, but only to the person who is truly infected. And it’s risk to the general population remains absolutely lowsaid WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier.
Eight cases of infection have been reported so far, including five laboratory-confirmed infections and three suspected cases linked to the rare Andean strain of hantavirus, according to the WHO.
No comparison to COVID
“I need to emphasize again and again, even those who have shared cabins do not appear to be both infected in some cases …it doesn’t spread anything close to how COVID spread” said Mr. Lindmeier.
In addition to the Hantius cruise ship, where the outbreak was first reported, contact tracing of potentially infected individuals continues.
“It’s tracking everybody. It’s looking at seat lists of planes, ships, maybe even more tracking someone’s steps, seeing where they would have been or could have been in close contact,” Mr. Lindmeier.
According to the WHO, transmission generally requires close and prolonged contact, especially among household members, intimate partners or health care workers.
Still, the wife, whose infected husband is being treated in a Swiss hospital, “has not shown any symptoms and is self-isolating … So it shows you, thankfully, again that the virus is apparently not that contagious,” Mr. Lindmeier.
The first known patient developed symptoms on April 6 and later died on board the vessel. His wife also fell ill and died after being evacuated to South Africa, where laboratory tests confirmed hantavirus infection.
Rodent risk
Prior to boarding, the pair had traveled through Argentina, Chile and Uruguay on a birding trip, including visits to sites where rodent species known to carry the virus are present.
Another passenger died on May 2, and while one man remains in intensive care in South Africa, the WHO said his condition is improving. Other patients have been transferred to hospitals in the Netherlands for treatment.
The WHO said no passengers or crew currently remaining on board the ship are showing symptoms.
Hantaviruses are zoonotic viruses carried by rodents and are usually transmitted to humans by contact with infected animals or their urine, saliva or feces (box WHO’s hantavirus fact sheet here).
The Andean strain, found in parts of Latin America, is the only known hantavirus capable of limited human-to-human transmission.
The outbreak has triggered action under the International Health Regulations, the global framework designed to coordinate responses to cross-border health threats.
The WHO said it is working closely with authorities in Cabo Verde, Spain, the Netherlands, South Africa, Britain and Argentina, along with the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
