Geneva : The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the hantavirus outbreak linked to the cruise ship MV Hondius has officially ended.
The organisation noted that no new cases were reported since May 25.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO, said the last person under monitoring had completed quarantine and tested negative for the virus, allowing the organisation to officially declare the outbreak over. A total of 13 confirmed cases and three deaths were recorded.
Tedros added that more than 650 contacts were identified and monitored across around 30 countries during the outbreak. He noted that the infections involved the rare Andes virus strain, the only known hantavirus capable of limited human-to-human transmission, whereas hantaviruses are typically spread through rodents and exposure to particles from their droppings.
