WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
An outbreak of infection was discovered on board the cruise liner MV Hondius traveling across the Atlantic. According to WHO, seven cases of infection have been confirmed and three people have died. Several other passengers remain under observation.
“The situation could change,” said Gebreyesus, recalling that the incubation period of the virus reaches six weeks. That is why authorities continue to monitor the condition of passengers evacuated to different countries, Reuters reported.
Particular attention of medics has attracted the Andes strain. This is the only known hantavirus capable of being transmitted from person to person through close contact. Read more about the outbreak reports WHO.
In the Netherlands, 12 hospital staff were quarantined after contact with biomaterials of infected people. Despite this, WHO emphasizes that it does not see any threat of a new pandemic.
Note that hantaviruses are a group of viruses that cause severe diseases, including lung or kidney damage. The disease develops rapidly and is often fatal.
Often, hantaviruses are transmitted to humans from rodents, mainly by inhaling particles of infected secretions. However, in the case of Andes virus, a South American variety of hantavirus, human-to-human transmission has been documented.
