The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed five cases of hantavirus linked to deaths aboard a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Another three cases are suspected of being linked to the Andes strain of the hantavirus.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the UK had notified the agency of a cluster of passengers with severe respiratory illness on the Hondius cruise ship, currently sailing from Cape Verde to the Spanish island of Tenerife.

“While this is a serious incident, WHO assesses the public health risk as low,” Ghebreyesus said. Eight cases have been reported so far, including three dead, five confirmed and three suspected, he added.

Hantaviruses are a group of viruses carried by rodents that can cause severe disease in humans. Infection typically occurs through contact with infected rodents, their urine, droppings or saliva.

The strain detected on the Dutch-flagged ship is the Andes virus, found in Latin America and the only hantavirus known to be capable of limited human-to-human transmission.

The first death was a man who developed symptoms on April 6 and died five days later. No samples were taken, and hantavirus was not identified due to symptom similarity with other viruses. His wife became the second victim, going ashore in Saint Helena, becoming symptomatic and dying on April 25. Another woman became the third fatality, developing symptoms on April 25 and dying seven days later.

“Given the incubation period of the hantavirus, which can be up to six weeks, it is possible that more cases may be reported,” Ghebreyesus said. The first two victims had traveled in Chile, Argentina and Uruguay on a bird watching trip before boarding, visiting sites home to rats known to carry hantavirus.

The WHO informed 12 countries whose nationals disembarked in Saint Helena: Britain, Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United States.

Source: www.aljazeera.com