Hong Kong health authorities are seeking more information from the World Health Organization on a hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship in the Atlantic, while stepping up prevention efforts to protect the city.
Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection said on Thursday that it had contacted the World Health Organization about the hantavirus cluster on the MV Hondius. The vessel departed from Argentina on April 1.
The WHO reported three deaths and confirmed five of eight suspected cases. The first patient developed symptoms on April 6.
Laboratory tests showed that viruses in two confirmed cases belonged to the Andes genotype, the only hantavirus type known for limited human-to-human transmission. Hong Kong has recorded zero to two hantavirus cases per year on average over the past five years.
