The WHO said it expected the outbreak on the MV Hondius, currently sailing from Cape Verde to the Spanish island of Tenerife, to be limited, so long as public health measures were properly implemented.

The hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius departed Cape Verde for Tenerife on Wednesday, as authorities rush to trace anyone who may have come into contact with the virus.

The World Health Organization said the risk to the wider public was low but added that limited human-to-human transmission had been reported in some strains of the virus.