According to Agence France-Presse, the World Health Organization said: “Eight laboratory cases of Andean virus infection have been confirmed, two are probable, and one case is still inconclusive and is subject to further testing.”The outbreak has so far claimed the lives of three people on board the ship, which left Argentina on April 1 on a transatlantic cruise. The World Health Organization said that two of the deceased were confirmed to be infected with the Andean virus, while the third was classified as a probable case.Hantavirus is usually transmitted through contact with the urine, saliva, or feces of infected rodents. There is currently no vaccine or specific treatment for this disease.
The World Health Organization says Risk to public health stays low
The World Health Organization confirmed that the public health risks remain “moderate” for the passengers and crew members who were on board the ship, but “low” for the rest of the world.The World Health Organization believes the first infection likely occurred before the flight began because the first victim, a 70-year-old Dutch passenger, developed symptoms on April 6.
The incubation period of the virus ranges from one to six weeks.According to Agence France-Presse, the inconclusive case involves an American passenger who has since been returned to the United States. The passenger is currently asymptomatic and is undergoing further testing following one positive and one negative result.
US patients remain under observation
According to the Associated Press news agency, more than 120 passengers and crew members were evacuated from the cruise ship and sent to various countries for quarantine and observation.Among them was oncologist Dr. Steven Kornfield of Oregon, who was placed in a special biocontainment unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center after an inconclusive nasal swab result.“I feel 100 percent great,” Kornfeld later told CNN. He said he had previously suffered flu-like symptoms including chills, fatigue and night sweats during the flight but has since recovered.Kornfeld has now been cleared to leave the biocontainment unit and moved to a standard quarantine facility with other Americans who are being monitored.US health officials said the broader overall risk remains low because Hantavirus does not spread easily between people, although the Andean strain identified in the outbreak is rarely transmitted between humans.The World Health Organization has advised all passengers and crew of the ship to remain under quarantine for 42 days.
