The hantavirus outbreak that occurred on a luxury cruise ship sailing the Atlantic Ocean may have spread between humans, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Wednesday.
"We believe there may have been person-to-person transmission among very close contacts," Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO director for epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, said that day.
The MV Hondius, where the hantavirus outbreak occurred, departed earlier this month from Ushuaia, a city in southern Argentina, made brief stops at Antarctica and the British territory of Saint Helena, and docked Monday at the port of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde. The vessel was carrying 147 passengers and crew members, with three deaths and four additional infections resulting from the cluster outbreak. Of the seven infection cases, two have been confirmed while five remain suspected.
Two of the infected individuals are in the process of being transferred to the Netherlands. After the transfer, the vessel will move to Spain's Canary Islands, where it will undergo an epidemiological investigation by Spanish authorities and the WHO.
Van Kerkhove added that no rats were found on the ship. Hantavirus is primarily transmitted through contact with rodent excrement or saliva, and person-to-person transmission is generally not known to occur.
However, the Andes variant found in Chile and Argentina has documented cases of human-to-human transmission. The WHO also believes the cluster infection on the vessel likely originated from the Andes variant. "The deceased couple boarded the ship in Argentina, where the spread of the Andes variant has been reported," Van Kerkhove explained.
While the unusual possibility of person-to-person transmission has heightened public anxiety, the WHO added that the risk posed by the virus to the general public remains low.
