WHO on Hantavirus Outbreak: 'This Is Not COVID'
WHO says the Andes strain may have spread between passengers, but officials still assess the public health risk as low.
- On Thursday, the World Health Organization confirmed a hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship, with more than 100 passengers confined as the vessel heads toward the Canary Islands.
- Health officials identified the strain as the Andes virus, noting person-to-person transmission occurred due to close contact; this cluster mirrors an Argentina outbreak in 2018-2019 that resulted in 34 cases.
- WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that more cases may emerge given the six-week incubation period, while Maria Van Kerkhove stated, "This is not the start of a COVID pandemic."
- Officials confirmed passengers from 12 countries disembarked before detection, prompting health departments in California, Georgia, and Arizona to monitor returnees; a flight attendant was hospitalized in Amsterdam.
- Abdirahman Mahamud, WHO director for alert and response operations, stated, "We firmly believe that safe, informed contact tracing and monitoring will reduce further spread," with additional guidance expected within 24 hours.
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How to Manage Your Health Anxiety About Hantavirus
An outbreak of hantavirus aboard the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius has so far sickened eight people, killing three of them. Five of these cases are confirmed and three are suspected, and as information about the outbreak unfolds, it's causing panic, leading some to draw parallels to the early months of 2020. “This is not coronavirus," said Maria van Kerkhove, director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness at the World Health Organization (WHO), a…
WHO Warns Against Spread Of Pandemic Fearmongering As UN Health Experts Refute Rising Online Conspiracy Theories
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN Health Agency push back online fears that the new Hantavirus outbreak on board the MV Hondius could become a new pandemic like Covid-19. WHO and UN Health Agency Refute Claims At Thursday's news briefing, Maria van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the WHO said 'this is not Covid, this is not influenza, it spreads very, very differently.' She said authorities had asked 'everyone to w…
‘Not the next COVID’: WHO official moves to calm fears over deadly cruise ship outbreak
A top World Health Organization official is pushing back against pandemic fears, saying a deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship -- the first ever recorded on a vessel -- is serious but not cause for widespread alarm.
DOH awaits WHO guidance on hantavirus-stricken ship
THE Department of Health (DOH) is waiting for guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO) on the next steps for the Filipino crew members aboard the cruise ship where a hantavirus outbreak has been reported.DOH spokesman Albert Domingo told The Manila Times on Friday that the agency has yet to receive instructions from the WHO on the measures to be implemented concerning the 38 Filipinos on the MV Hondius.“We will act accordingly in line w…
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