Hantavirus latest updates: U.S. among countries searching for passengers who left Dutch cruise ship after 1st death
Yahoo • • world
Key Points:
- An outbreak of hantavirus on the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius has led to 29 passengers, including six Americans, being at risk of carrying the virus after disembarking at St. Helena on April 24.
- Eight people, including a Swiss citizen, are suspected of contracting the virus, with three confirmed deaths of a Dutch couple and a German national linked to the outbreak; five cases have been confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO), with one death confirmed from hantavirus.
- U.S. health authorities, including the CDC, are monitoring travelers from California, Georgia, and Arizona who were on the ship, but there is currently an extremely low risk to the American public.
- The cruise ship is en route to Spain’s Canary Islands, where despite local opposition, the Spanish health minister insists the ship will dock at Tenerife.
- Hantavirus is usually transmitted from rodents to humans, but the Andes strain found in this outbreak can spread between people; experts emphasize that the virus spreads differently from COVID-19 or influenza and advise against panic.
