Countries | Pakistan

Countries worldwide sought to prevent further spread of the hantavirus on Thursday, after an outbreak ​on a cruise ship, by tracking those who had already disembarked before the virus was detected and anyone in close contact with them since. Three ‌people — a Dutch couple and a German national — died in the outbreak on the MV Hondius. In total, five people are confirmed to have contracted the virus, with another three suspected cases, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said. Hantavirus is usually spread by rodents, but can, in rare cases, be transmitted person-to-person. All passengers who disembarked in St. Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean, where the ship made a stop on April 24, have ​been contacted, the ship’s operator said, adding this included people from at least 12 countries, among them seven British citizens and six from the US The ​first confirmed case of hantavirus in this outbreak came in early May. ‘This is not Covid’ The WHO repeated that the risk to the ⁠general public was “low” even if the A...