WHO confirms 8 hantavirus cases linked to cruise ship outbreak

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday officially confirmed 8 hantavirus cases linked to a cruise ship outbreak, while three additional cases remain suspected. But while it was serious, the WHO said it assesses the public health risk as low. WHO has now informed the 12 countries whose nationals disembarked the cruise ship MV Hoondis earlier during the voyage at the remote British territory of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. Those 12 countries are Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkyie, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. 
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in a media briefing in Geneva that the agency currently expects the outbreak to remain limited if appropriate public health measures are implemented quickly and effectively. He, however, warned that additional cases remain possible as authorities continue tracing exposed passengers and contacts across multiple countries.  
WHO said around 2,500 hantavirus diagnostic kits are being shipped from laboratories in Argentina to five countries.  The Dutch Foreign Ministry has confirmed that around 40 passengers from the cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak disembarked at the island of St. Helena. However, ship operator Oceanwide Expeditions said 29 passengers left the MV Hondius on the 24th of April.