Health
Hantavirus Outbreak Not The Start of a Pandemic – WHO Assures
The World Health Organization (WHO) says the hantavirus outbreak linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship is not the beginning of another global pandemic.
Speaking during a press briefing on Thursday, WHO officials said hantavirus spreads very differently from COVID-19 and currently poses a low public health risk.
Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO infectious disease epidemiologist, said authorities were not facing a repeat of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I want to be unequivocal here. This is not SARS-CoV-2. This is not the start of a Covid pandemic. This is an outbreak that we see on a ship,” she said.
Van Kerkhove explained that the Andes hantavirus spreads mainly through “close, intimate contact,” unlike COVID-19 or influenza, which spread more easily through the air.
“This is not Covid, this is not influenza, it spreads very, very differently,” she said.
Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general said eight cases have so far been identified, including three deaths.