The number of confirmed hantavirus cases amongst passengers on Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius, which suffered an outbreak of the rat-related virus in April, has increased to seven as two more people tested positive.

The ship had sailed from Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost province of Argentina, on April 1 and authorities are investigating whether  “patient zero” — a Dutch man who died on April 11 — got infected during a visit to the Patagonia region. 

Hantavirus is an endemic disease in some parts of Patagonia and the south of Chile due to the presence of the long-tailed mouse (ratón colilargo), the main vector for its transmission.

However, the rat is not present in Tierra del Fuego, and local authorities have denied the first victim of the outbreak caught the disease there.

All people who remained aboard the cruise disembarked on Sunday in Tenerife, Spain, and were being repatriated to their respective countries.

In a letter to the people of Tenerife, where the MV Hondius remained docked, World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that while he understood their concerns, they should not be worried about the passengers’ disembarkment.

“I need you to hear me clearly: this is not another COVID-19. The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low,” he wrote.

To the people of Tenerife,My name is Tedros, and I serve as the Director-General of the @WHO, the @UN agency responsible for global public health. It is not........

© Buenos Aires Herald