The World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday the risk to the wider public “remains low” after a suspected outbreak of a rare and deadly virus killed three people and left three others ill aboard a cruise ship in the Atlantic.
The U.N. health agency had previously confirmed one case of hantavirus — a rodent-borne disease that can cause life-threatening respiratory problems — aboard the Dutch cruise ship, and five more cases are suspected.
Dutch cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions said one passenger was currently being treated in intensive care in Johannesburg, and two crew members on board required urgent medical care.
British news outlets have identified one of the ill patients as a 69-year-old U.K. national, citing South Africa’s Department of Health, while two of the three deaths have been identified as a Dutch couple, according to local media reports.
The cruise ship, which left Argentina three weeks ago, was headed to the Canary Islands, but is currently sitting off the coast of Cabo Verde in West Africa, according to the WHO.
WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Henri P. Kluge said Monday that the agency was “acting with urgency” and “working with the countries involved to support medical care, evacuation, investigations and public health risk assessment.”
But “the risk to the wider public remains low,” he added. “There is no need for panic or travel restrictions.”
Hantavirus is usually contracted after coming into contact with infected rodent droppings or urine, and only rarely can it be spread between people.
