90-Second Read: Hantavirus Strain in Outbreak Hasn't Become More Transmissible, WHO Says

The outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship has led to 10 cases of Hantavirus disease -- including eight laboratory-confirmed cases and two probable cases -- and three deaths. The Andes virus that fueled the outbreak is the only Hantavirus strain that can be transmitted person to person. Case reports of Hantavirus being detected years after infection don't necessarily mean a person remains infectious, cautioned Abdi Mahamud, the WHO's director for health emergency alert and response operations.

That case tally dropped from 11, after a U.S. oncologist who was a passenger was confirmed negative for infection. More than 120 passengers are now being monitored in their home countries or host countries before returning home, WHO officials said in a media briefing Friday. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, praised the efforts of 30 governments in managing the outbreak.

That doesn't mean the outbreak is expanding, cautioned Maria Van Kerkhove, PhD, of the WHO's department of epidemic and pandemic threat management. Any additional cases "actually mean that the people who are in quarantine are being tested, and they're being cared for." On Thursday, CDC officials said that 41 Americans are being monitored. The ship's captain and crew have not been symptomatic, and the ship is slated to return to the Netherlands Monday.