WHO calls everyone aboard hantavirus-hit ship high-risk

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday that all people aboard a cruise ship affected by a hantavirus outbreak should be considered "high-risk" contacts and actively monitored for 42 days.



"We classify everybody on board as what we call a high-risk contact," Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, told a media briefing. She noted that currently "nobody on board has any symptoms," but recommended "active monitoring and follow-up of all the passengers and crew who disembark for a 42-day period."



However, she stressed that the risk to the public and people in the Canary Islands, where the MV Hondius is expected to dock on Sunday, remains "low."



According to a WHO Disease Outbreak News update on Saturday, severe respiratory illness was first reported on the cruise ship on 2 May. At the time, there were 147 passengers and crew members onboard, while 34 others had already disembarked. All WHO's contact points in concerned countries have been informed and are supporting international contact tracing.