The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that 11 hantavirus cases have now been linked to the cruise ship MV Hondius, including nine confirmed infections of the Andes strain of the virus and two suspected cases, Reuters reports.
The ship was carrying around 150 passengers and crew members from more than 20 countries, including 38 from the Philippines, 23 from Britain, 17 from the United States, 14 from Spain, 11 from the Netherlands, eight from Germany, and five each from France and Ukraine.
Speaking at a joint press conference with the Spanish government in Madrid, WHO officials warned that additional confirmed cases could still emerge due to the virus's long incubation period, despite the completion of evacuation operations from the vessel, and urged countries to follow its epidemic prevention and control guidelines.
The WHO also said no new deaths had been reported since May 2.
All confirmed and suspected cases linked to the vessel had been isolated, minimizing the risk of further transmission, it said, adding that there is currently no indication of a larger-scale outbreak.
In related developments, Spain's Ministry of Health announced in a social media update on Tuesday that a Spanish passenger evacuated from the ship had tested positive again after a second hantavirus test, confirming the infection.
The ministry did not specify whether the patient had contracted the Andes virus strain.
Meanwhile, the operator of the ship said the vessel departed on Monday on its return voyage to the Netherlands. Only 25 crew members, along with one doctor and one nurse, remain onboard after all passengers had disembarked.
The ship is expected to arrive in Rotterdam on May 17.
Hantavirus was first isolated and named in 1978 after the Hantan River in the Republic of Korea (ROK), where an outbreak occurred among soldiers during wartime.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), humans usually contract hantavirus through contact with infected rodents or their saliva, urine and droppings, most commonly by inhaling virus particles emitted into the air from contaminated waste. Rodent bites can also transmit the virus.
