WHO rules out Covid-scale outbreak as nations scramble to trace passengers of hantavirus-hit ship

GENEVA — Authorities around the world are racing to trace dozens of passengers who disembarked from the cruise ship at the center of a deadly hantavirus outbreak as the WHO warned that more infections could still emerge because the virus can have an incubation period of up to six weeks.It emerged on Thursday that at least 29 passengers of 12 nationalities left the MV Hondius on April 24 after the first fatality, prompting a scramble to identify and track their movements before implementing isolation measures.The outbreak has killed three people and caused global alarm.However, the World Health Organization ruled out any Covid-scale crisis. During a press conference on Thursday, WHO infectious disease epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove sought to distinguish the outbreak from the early days of the Covid-19 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 hantavirus does not spread in the same way as coronaviruses, but rather through “close, intimate contact”.She added that measures being taken onboard the vessel are “precautionary to prevent any onward spread”.The WHO said that five of the eight suspected cases linked to the ship had been confirmed and that other cases may be identified.“Given the incubation period of the Andes virus, which can be up to six weeks, it’s possible that more cases may be reported,” the organisation’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, told a news conference. “While this is a serious incident, WHO assesses the public health risk low.”European authorities have also said the risk to the public remains low. “I have to repeat that according to the evidence that we have at the moment, the risk for the public in Europe, the risk for the Europeans is low,” EU spokeswoman Eva Hrncirova said.Meanwhile, Van Kerkhove said officials are investigating possible human-to-human transmission ؙ— something considered extremely rare — and believe the first infected person likely contracted the virus before boarding. Authorities have also said there are no rats on board.Around 40 passengers disembarked from the cruise ship after the first passenger died onboard, Dutch officials say. The passengers left the MV Hondius during a stop at the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena, according to the Dutch foreign ministry.The cruise operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, had previously only confirmed that the Dutch woman left the ship with her husband’s body and had not publicly acknowledged that dozens of other passengers also disembarked.The 14 Spaniards aboard MV Hondius will be taken to Tenerife before being transferred to Madrid, Spanish health authorities said.They will undergo up to 45 days of quarantine in Spain’s most advanced isolation facility, at the Hospital Central de la Defensa Gómez Ulla in Madrid.The High-Level Isolation Unit (UAAN) is a specialised facility created after the 2014 Ebola outbreak and previously used during COVID-19 evacuations from Wuhan.Hantavirus refers to a group of viruses carried by rodents, primarily transmitted to humans through inhalation of airborne particles from dried rodent droppings.According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hantaviruses can cause two serious illnesses.The first is hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which affects the lungs and can lead to severe respiratory failure. The second is haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, which affects the kidneys and can cause serious complications.