Countries track passengers from virus‑hit cruise ship as Hondius heads to Spain

GENEVA, May ‌8 — Countries worldwide sought to prevent further spread of the hantavirus yesterday, after an outbreak on a cruise ship, by tracking those who had disembarked before the virus was detected and anyone in close contact with them since.

Three people — a Dutch couple and a German national — died in the outbreak on the MV Hondius.

In total, five people are confirmed to have contracted the virus, with another three suspected cases, ‌the World Health Organisation said. Hantavirus is usually spread by rodents but can in rare cases be transmitted person-to-person.

All passengers who disembarked in St. Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean, where the ship made a stop on April 24, have been contacted, the ship’s operator said. This included people from at least 12 countries, among them seven British citizens and six from the US The first confirmed case of hantavirus in this outbreak came in early May.

‘This is not Covid’

The WHO repeated that the risk to the general public was low even if the Andean strain of the virus, found in several victims, can in rare cases be transmitted among humans.

“This is not coronavirus, this is a very different virus,” Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO director of epidemic and pandemic management, told a press conference. “This is not the same situation we were in six years ago.” The WHO said it was working on step-by-step guidance for when the dozens of passengers remaining on the ship, which is sailing to the Canary Islands, arrives there tomorrow or Sunday and the passengers disembark and travel home. None of these passengers currently have any symptoms.

Contact tracing, monitoring

The United States’ Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said it was closely monitoring the situation, adding that the risk to the American public was ‌extremely low at the time.

President Donald Trump told reporters yesterday he had been briefed on the hantavirus and expressed hope that it was under control.

“It’s very much, we hope, under ⁠control,” Trump said.

Asked whether Americans should be concerned about any spread of the virus, Trump ⁠replied: “I hope not.” He also said, without elaborating, that a report on the virus was expected today.

The Georgia Department of ⁠Public Health said it was monitoring two asymptomatic residents ⁠who had returned home after disembarking from the ⁠cruise ship.

The Arizona Department of Health Services said it was monitoring one resident, who was also on the ship, and was not symptomatic. According to the New York Times, California was monitoring a number of residents who had been on the ship.

And in Texas, officials said that two residents who were passengers on the ship returned to the US before the outbreak was identified.

One French ⁠citizen has been in contact with a person who had fallen ill but was not showing symptoms, officials said.

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