A top World Health Organization official is pushing back against pandemic fears as a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship heads to the Canary Islands — and a suspected case emerges on one of the world’s most remote islands.
“This is not the next COVID. But it is a serious infectious disease,” WHO epidemic expert Maria Van Kerkhove said Wednesday.
The MV Hondius is expected to arrive in Tenerife this weekend, where Spanish health officials are preparing to carefully evacuate more than 140 passengers and crew. Three people have died. None of those remaining aboard is currently showing symptoms. The U.S. and U.K. are arranging repatriation flights for their citizens.
A suspected hantavirus case has also appeared on Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. British officials confirmed the patient was a passenger on the ship. U.K. Overseas Territories Minister Stephen Doughty said his thoughts were with “the islander currently in hospital and their spouse who is isolating.”
Investigators believe the outbreak may have begun during a birdwatching excursion in Ushuaia, at Argentina’s southern tip, where hantavirus cases have surged — a trend many researchers link to climate change.
Ms. Van Kerkhove urged perspective, noting that “most people will never be exposed to this.”
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