"There are no Italian passengers on board the ship," the Ministry of Health stated, referring to the Hondius cruise ship, which has been affected by a hantavirus outbreak.

The ministry has already sent a report to the Regions and the Maritime, Air, and Border Health Offices and "will continue to monitor the situation in close contact with international health authorities as part of epidemiological surveillance activities." The ministry "is closely monitoring the evolution of the outbreak, in coordination with international health authorities."

Meanwhile, as the ship—originally departing from Argentina and bound for Cape Verde— prepares to dock in Tenerife for the evacuation of its passengers, the first hypotheses emerge regarding the source of the infection. The hantavirus appears to have arrived aboard the Hondius after a couple went birdwatching at a landfill. The AP reports this, citing two Argentine officials investigating the outbreak. The leading hypothesis is that the Dutch couple contracted the virus during an excursion to Ushuaia, Argentina, where they visited a landfill where they may have come into contact with rats carrying the infection. Of the three people who have died so far, two are a 69-year-old Dutch couple.

The WHO also confirmed that the hantavirus spread on the ship is of the "Andes" strain, the only one that can be transmitted from human to human , unlike other hantaviruses, which, acquired from rodents, cannot be transmitted from human to human. "This confirms the worst-case scenario," wrote virologist Roberto Burioni , announcing the WHO's confirmation on his social media channels.

(Unioneonline)

© Riproduzione riservata