By Daily Review Online
World Health Organization has confirmed eight laboratory cases of Andes hantavirus linked to an outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship, raising concerns over the spread of the rare virus strain known to transmit between humans.
According to the global health agency, two additional cases are being treated as probable, while another remains inconclusive and is undergoing further testing.
The outbreak has so far claimed three lives among passengers who boarded the vessel after it departed Argentina on April 1 for an Atlantic cruise. Health officials said two of the deaths were confirmed Andes virus infections, while the third is still classified as probable.
The Andes strain is regarded as the only known hantavirus variant capable of human-to-human transmission. Most hantavirus infections are typically spread through exposure to infected rodents or their urine, saliva and droppings.
The WHO said all identified infections were linked to passengers onboard the cruise ship. One American passenger who was repatriated remains under medical observation after returning an inconclusive result, although the individual is reportedly asymptomatic.
Health authorities said the overall public health risk remains moderate for those who travelled on the vessel but low for the wider global population.
Investigators are still working to determine the source of the outbreak, though preliminary findings suggest the initial exposure may have occurred before the voyage began.
According to the WHO, the first confirmed fatality — a 70-year-old Dutch passenger — developed symptoms on April 6, which falls within the virus’s one-to-six-week incubation period, indicating that infection likely happened prior to boarding the ship.