New Delhi: The recent hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean has sparked concerns globally.
At least cases of hantavirus were confirmed to have caught the virus, which spreads through contact with infected rodents.
Three of the infected people — a Netherlands couple and a German national — died in the outbreak on the cruise ship MV Hondius.
A flight attendant in the Netherlands has been hospitalised after coming into contact with one of the cruise ship passengers infected with hantavirus.
The airline staff member, believed to be a KLM stewardess, was admitted to a hospital in Amsterdam and placed in isolation after developing mild symptoms, the New York Post reported citing Dutch media reports.
According to Dutch health officials, she had come in brief contact with an elderly Dutch passenger who later collapsed and died.
Two days ago, the World Health Organisation (WHO) flagged concerns on hantavirus, saying that some rare human-to-human transmission may have taken place among passengers of the cruise ship.
As comparisons of hantavirus with coronavirus started, the WHO on Thursday dismissed the possibility of the hantavirus outbreak spiralling into a global pandemic.
“This is not COVID. This is a very different virus, and we know this virus. Hantavirus has been around for many years,” said Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s director for epidemic and pandemic preparedness.
“This is not the same situation we were in six years ago,” Kerkhove added during a press conference.
According to WHO experts, the hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship can be restricted provided public health measures and solidarity are implemented.
“We believe this will be a limited outbreak if the public health measures are implemented and solidarity shown across all countries,” emergency alert and response director Abdi Rahman Mahamud told newspersons.
