A deadly hantavirus outbreak on a luxury cruise ship marooned in the Atlantic is believed to have spread from person to person, in what would be a rare occurrence for a virus that typically spreads from rodents, health officials said.
The virus, which has been blamed for the deaths of three people as of Tuesday, may have spread by human-to-human transmission due to passengers’ close contact within the ship, the World Health Organization said at a press conference in Geneva.
“It’s definitely uncommon,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s director for epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention. “WHO assesses that the overall risk to the public is low.”
Health officials are working under the assumption that the type of hantavirus involved is the Andes virus, since there is evidence, however limited, that this specific strain is capable of spreading between humans. Sequencing of the virus, which can take several days to complete, is underway in South Africa, she said.
The MV Hondius set sail from Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1 with about 150 people of more than 20 nationalities. It traveled across the South Atlantic, with multiple stops in remote and ecologically diverse regions, including Antarctica, South Georgia, Nightingale Island, Tristan da Cunha, Saint Helena, and Ascension Island, WHO said.
