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Connect the World
Scramble to Trace Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise Ship; Three Passengers Evacuated from Cruise Ship Off Cape Verde; Cruise Ship with Hantavirus Outbreak Heads to Spain; Israel: Strike Kills Senior Hezbollah Commander in Beirut; W.H.O. Holds Briefing on Cruise Ship Hantavirus Outbreak. Aired 9-9:45a ET
Aired May 07, 2026 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: We are looking at live pictures of an Amsterdam hospital after the Dutch Health Ministry says a
woman has been admitted with a possible hantavirus infection, the same virus that has sickened and reportedly killed several people on a cruise
ship.
It is 03:00 p.m. in the Dutch capital. It is 05:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. From our Middle East programming headquarters. I'm Becky Anderson. You are
watching "Connect the World". The stock market in New York opens about 30 minutes from now. And as we look at the futures market, the indications are
that these markets will open slightly higher today.
More on that when we get to the bell at 09:30 local time. And we will get to the war in Iran in just a moment. First up though, the embattled cruise
ship with the hantavirus outbreak that is now headed to the Canary Islands in Spain. The MV Hondius, with about 150 people still on board, is set to
dock on Saturday in Tenerife as authorities rush to trace anyone with virus contact.
Now Reuters reporting a Dutch woman was admitted to an Amsterdam hospital showing possible symptoms. Broadcaster RTL says she was a flight attendant
for KLM and came in contact with one of the ship's passengers. Health officials say a total of eight cases have now been identified, three
confirmed and five suspected. CNN's Randi Kaye filed this report taking a closer look at how all of this began.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. MARIA VAN KERKHOVE, DIRECTOR FOR EPIDEMIC & PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS & PREVENTION AT W.H.O.: This was an expedition boat, and many of the people
on board were doing bird watching.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Turns out a bird watching tour may be the source of this hantavirus outbreak. According to the Associated
Press, two Argentine officials investigating how this started, said their government is leaning toward the idea that a Dutch couple contracted the
virus while bird watching in the City of Ushuaia, Argentina, before boarding the ship.
The AP reports the couple visited a landfill during the tour and may have been exposed to infected rodents. That 70-year-old Dutch man was the first
to die on the ship days after they left port in Argentina. His 69-year-old wife died about two weeks later. The rest of the people on board, including
nearly 150 passengers, are now on a three-to-four-day journey from Cape Verde to Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
Spain has agreed to receive the ship there. Upon arrival, the plan is for all passengers to be taken to a nearby airport and sent back to their home
countries. The 14 Spanish citizens will be examined and go directly into quarantine at a Madrid hospital.
KASEM HATO, MV HONDIAS PASSENGER: This is the country of Cape Verde in front of us, but it is forbidden to go down to it.
KAYE (voice-over): This travel vlogger on board posted on social media about the predicament they now find themselves in.
HATO: Today was supposed to be the last day of our 35-day trip on the Atlantic, but it is clear that our journey will not end here, because Cape
Verde refused to receive us on its coast.
KAYE (voice-over): Earlier, this medical evacuation boat removed three sick people from the ship. On their way to the Netherlands, a source from
Spain's Health Ministry told CNN that Morocco refused to let the plane carrying two of the evacuees, land to refuel. Instead, it made an
unscheduled landing at Gran Canaria Airport to do so.
KERKHOVE: People are usually infected through contact with infected rodents or their urine, their droppings or their saliva. Human to human
transmission is uncommon.
KAYE (voice-over): Yet in this case, the World Health Organization believes the virus may have been transmitted person to person on board, following
lab tests confirmed, this is the Andes strain of the virus which has spread among close contacts before.
KERKHOVE: We're also working with authorities for anyone that has left the ship.
In fact, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health has confirmed that a passenger who traveled on the first leg of the voyage and disembarked at
Saint Helena on April 24th has now tested positive for hantavirus. That passenger, according to the cruise company, is being treated at a hospital
in Zurich.
His wife, who was with him, has not shown symptoms, but is self-isolating as a precaution. Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, let's bring in Dr. Aileen Marty now. She's a Professor at Florida International University's College of Medicine and a Senior Advisor
to the W.H.O. on responding to infectious disease outbreaks. It's fantastic to have you. I've got a whole bunch of questions.
[09:05:00]
First up, what are the risks of these passengers leaving the ship at this point, then transiting through airports and effectively, as we understand
it, dispersing globally.
DR. AILEEN M. MARTY, PROFESSOR AT FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY: So, this is a very important question, and to understand the right answer to
the question, you have to understand that we can detect the virus in people who have been contaminated, who are pre symptomatic.
So, it is incredibly important to be isolating these patients. These patients should not be walking around without a mask. Even though they feel
healthy. They should be taken to places away from other people until it's clear that they do not have the infection. So, I think it's important to
realize that, yes, this is the Andes virus, which is one of many different Orthohantavirus that can cause disease in humans.
And in the Americas, there are 22 different ones. Right now, this year, there happens to be an outbreak separate from the Cruz outbreak in
Argentina of the Andes virus. So, while the idea that somebody, maybe during bird watching, encountered rat urine or feces, et cetera, that had
aerosolized and hailed.
Yes, that is quite the most likely way in which it happened, but it's not the only way, because there, since there is an outbreak right now in
Argentina. They could actually have acquired it from someone in Argentina as well. This is something that I think we can manage quite well, because
it came to our attention very early and because we are aware of this.
South Africa has the NICD there, which is fantastic, and they were able to very rapidly recognize what was going on. They reported it to the World
Health Organization, and there has been a very intense effort to do all the appropriate tracking of people who were linked in one way or another to the
outbreak that's happening.
However, it is incredibly important to realize that human to human transmission is not an easy thing. It happens and it varies. There was a
huge outbreak a few years ago in in Argentina, where they did a study and they showed that the reproductive rate was like 2.12 which is significant,
but could be quickly brought down to less than one, and you could then extinguish it.
If you remember those numbers and names from COVID, you'll understand what I'm saying.
ANDERSON: I do. Yeah, absolutely, because there will be people watching this saying just how easily is this disease transmitted? And the sort of,
you know, the story here is that there is a cruise ship, which, for days now, has been floating offshore of Africa because, frankly, nobody wanted
it.
And it sort of begs the question is, is a cruise ship just a recipe for disaster in a situation like this, it's like a petri dish to a degree. Is
it?
MARTY: Well, it's -- you have a cohort of people in a relatively confined area where something that can be transmitted from person to person can
happen. But there's other settings in which we have that. That's why W.H.O. has a mass gathering and border division so that we can look at these sorts
of situations where, anytime there are big crowds, et cetera, you can start a problem.
And you need to be aware that these things can happen. And like all of these things, if you nip it in the bush as quickly as possible, then it
doesn't become something out of control. I won't -- I happen to love cruise ships, so I'm not going to knock them.
ANDERSON: So, let's just be clear here, because I think there'll be, you know, a lot of people watching this with the following questions, what are
the treatment options for people who might contract this? And how different is a virus like this from something like COVID-19? That will all have, you
know, some muscle memory for.
MARTY: Right. So first of all, extremely different types of viruses, these Ortho hantaviruses, do not cause any visible damage to our cells, the
damage and the disease and all those manifestations have to do with the particular endothelial cells that are targeted and how they respond
immunologically to having the virus present, so that.
In terms of what are we going to see in the future, because of what's going on here, we're going to get this under control. I'm pretty sure, if we are
careful and follow all the appropriate steps.
[09:10:00]
How this unfolds in the next few days really depends on good public health measures being taken now with the people that are exposed. I think it's
really important to understand it is not easily transmitted from person to person, but it can be, and therefore we have to take these precautions.
ANDERSON: It's so good to have you. Thank you very much indeed for joining us. And we are expecting more from the W.H.O., and if we see that press
conference pop up that the statements from the W.H.O. we will get those to our viewers. Thank you very much indeed for joining us.
All right, I did promise to connect you to the Iran war now, and I will. Sources tell CNN Tehran is expected to respond today to the latest U.S.
proposal to end the conflict. Donald Trump hailing what he calls good talks with Iran, but he also says, if there's no deal, the U.S. will go back to
bombing Iran, even more than it did before the ceasefire.
Nic Robertson is in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, with more on the diplomatic push. Eleni Giokos is in Dubai, with the latest from the strait
and on this region. Nic, let's just start with you. As I understand it, not an awful lot has happened over the last 24 hours. So just what do we know
at this point? What can we expect?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: We can expect Iran to put forward its response to the proposal that received for the United
States on Sunday, so it's been a number of days. We can expect it to be a fairly narrow response to what the president has said, because that's
believed to be, by the mediators, at least, believed to be the best way forward.
But by narrow, it doesn't mean that it's going to leave out issues. I think what it means here is that it's intended to try to be a response that can
actually get to a position of both sides having talks, that sounds very ambiguous. It absolutely sounds like we've been here before.
You know, President Trump's, you know, feeling of positivity expressed yesterday, that the positivity coming from the Pakistan mediators, that
Trump had put a pause on Project Freedom earlier in the week, the fact that actually the U.S. proposal had gone into the Iranians and there was
followed by Project Freedom and all the confrontation missiles, et cetera, on the UAE confrontation with the U.S. Navy, with the IRGC, all of that.
And then the waters got calm, quite literally. And that's the moment that we're in. And I think the sense is what to expect from Iran has that
cooling of temperature allowed them to moderate their position, or they merely going to go back to their former red lines. If you sort of listen to
what some of the rhetoric is, in Iranian media, there are critics of the mediators for being too soft.
You know, one of them said that they should go in and combat -- into the talks in combat uniform, there's reminders that they need to listen to the
red line set down by the supreme leader. But there are others in society in Iran who are saying, look, if we keep delaying, this is missed
opportunities for the country.
So, in the media, there are mixed messages. It's very hard to judge what's going to happen. I think expectations and hopes and positivity again, that
sort of been frothed up, but the reality won't be known until Iran puts this document forward.
ANDERSON: Yeah.
ROBERTSON: And if it is close enough to the U.S., then there is a chance to move forward. But if not, President Trump's threats hang over. And I think
just one last line that President Trump's threats yesterday to go back to war could easily have been picked up by hard liners in Iran who would have
thrown it back at the U.S.
We would have might have seen that in Iranian media. We haven't. But what does that mean? We don't know.
ANDERSON: I'm told by sources around this region who are in constant contact with the Trump Administration that they Donald Trump is not
throwing these threats around lightly. He means it, is what I've been told. They will go back in, is what I'm told. So, let's see.
Let's wait to see what we get from Tehran. Meantime, describe this as a bit of a state of limbo. Nic, it's good to have you. Eleni, let me bring you in
huge questions over the strait, the future of the Strait of Hormuz, and who gets to manage navigation there?
[09:15:00]
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. And you know, in the backdrop of. potential negotiations and this one-page memorandum and waiting for Iran's
response. Iran is trying to force shippers into complying with new rules. We got our hands on this document today.
It was emailed to Lloyds by the Persian Gulf strait authority. It's an official application form that is being sent to vessels and to shippers
that want to transit the strait. It entails 40 questions they need to answer, and it comes with caveats. And in the body of the email,
interestingly, Becky, it says any incorrect, incomplete information provided will be the sole responsibility of the applicants, and any
resulting consequences will be born accordingly.
Now, according to Lloyds, a lot of the questions in this application form, you can easily find it's, you know, readily available information. The
question is, how will it be applied by the Iranians to allow for safe transit? They have categorically said that any vessel that has any links to
what they call an enemy state will not be allowed transit, but they are trying to formalize a process that, frankly, has been in place since the
start of the war.
And speaking to Lloyds and to other experts, they tell me that the IRGC has, for a very, very long time now been asking these questions, but it was
very informal. Communication was very scant. Now, the PGSA, this new authority, this government authority that has been created is sending out
emails.
Has an email address. You can contact them directly. I've contacted them, still waiting for a response. But importantly, as they're trying to assert
their authority, they've also put out this new map, you know, expanding what they said, the control is over the strait and if you see these new
lines, Becky, and we've also heard from shippers that they were given a message to move away from those lines.
And a lot of the ship is actually complied because they were worried about repercussions, as we saw escalation over the last few days, and many
vessels actually being targeted. It also includes Fujairah, as well as Khor Fakkan. These are two very important ports, not only for the UAE, but they
are release valves fort and gateways for the UAE and the Gulf region as well.
Whether they're going to assert the authority that they say they will through this new process remains to be seen. But of course, in the
background to all of this, you know, will the United States and Iran see eye to eye, where you've seen sort of the hot spot now, the epicenter of
war really becoming what happens in the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S. asserts its position in the naval blockade.
You know, Project Freedom didn't succeed in the way they wanted to. Experts were telling me it wasn't ever really going to be very successful, because
communication was an issue. A lot of shippers were very worried about how it would work. That's been halted right now as we wait to perhaps see some
kind of diplomatic offering.
But the markets are taking it in their strides. I mean, you've got Brent crude that is coming under pressure right now, so we wait to see what
happens.
ANDERSON: Got it. All right, Eleni, thank you for that. We are standing by for more from the W.H.O., by the way, as we get that, we're monitoring
that, as we get more, we will get that to you. The Israeli military says it has killed a Senior Hezbollah Commander in Beirut.
The IDF says he was targeted quote, in a precise strike in the city's southern suburbs. Wednesday's attack is the first in the Lebanese capital
since the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon and was brokered by the U.S. last month. Right. Let me get you to the press conference being held now by
the W.H.O. Let's listen in to Dr. Tedros.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: -- cases have been confirmed as hantavirus, and the other
three are suspected. Hantaviruses are a group of viruses carried by rodents that can cause severe disease in humans. People are usually infected
through contact with infected rodents or their urine, droppings or saliva.
The species of hantavirus involved in this case is the Andes virus, which is found in Latin America and is the only species known to be capable of
limited transmission between humans. In previous outbreaks of Andes virus, transmission between people has been associated with close and prolonged
contact, particularly among household members, intimate partners and people providing medical care.
That appears to be the case in the current situation. The first case was in a man who developed symptoms on the 6th of April and died on the ship on
the 11th of April. No samples were taken, and because his symptoms were similar to those of other respiratory diseases, hantavirus was not
suspected.
[09:20:00]
The man's wife went ashore when the ship docked at the island of Saint Helena, and was also symptomatic. She deteriorated during a flight to
Johannesburg on the 25th of April and died the next day. Samples were taken, which were tested at South Africa's National Institute of
Communicable Diseases and confirmed as hantavirus.
The sad death was of a woman on the ship who developed symptoms on the 28th of April and died on the 2nd of May. Another man presented to the ship's
doctor on the 24th of April, and he was evacuated on the 25th of April from the island of Ascension to South Africa, where he remains in intensive
care.
Doctors from Cabo Verde boarded the ship to provide care for the three other passengers with symptoms. W.H.O. coordinated their evacuation to the
Netherlands for treatment. I would like to thank prime minister releases Korea, e Silva of Cabo Verde for his support in facilitating the evacuation
of these three patients based on our request.
Two are in a stable condition in hospital, and one is asymptomatic and is now in Germany. The eighth case was in a man who disembarked in Saint
Helena following advice from the ship's operator, he reported himself with symptoms in Zurich, Switzerland, and was confirmed yesterday to be infected
with hantavirus.
The Geneva University Hospitals then sequenced the virus and confirmed it as Andes. None of the remaining passengers or crew on the ship are
currently symptomatic. W.H.O. is aware of reports of other people with symptoms who may have had contact with one of the passengers.
In each case, we are in close contact with the relevant authorities. Given the incubation period of the Andes virus, which can be up to six weeks, it
is possible that more cases may be reported. While this is a serious incident, W.H.O. assesses the public health risk as low.
It also shows why the international health regulations exist and how they work. W.H.O. is working with multiple governments and partners on the
response under those regulations. Our priorities are to ensure the affected patients receive care, that the remaining passengers on the ship are kept
safe and treated with dignity, and to prevent any further spread of the virus.
On Monday, I asked Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of Spain to accept the ship which he agreed to do. And I thank Prime Minister Sanchez for his
generosity solidarity and meeting his moral duty. The ship is now sailing for the Canary Islands, and we are confident in the capacity of Spain to
manage this risk, and we are supporting them to do so.
Once again, we assess the risk to the people of the Canary Islands as low. W.H.O. has provided guidance to the ship's operator on the management of
health on board the vessel. All passengers have been asked to stay in their cabins. The cabins are being disinfected, and anyone who shows symptoms
will be isolated immediately.
A W.H.O. expert boarded the ship in Cabo Verde and has been joined by two doctors from the Netherlands and an expert from the European Center for
Disease Prevention and Control, who will stay on the ship until it reaches the Canary Islands. They're conducting a medical assessment of everyone on
board and gathering information to assess their risk of infection.
W.H.O. is developing, step by step operational guidance for the safe and respectful disembarkation and onward travel of passengers and crew when
they arrive. W.H.O. has also informed 12 countries whose nationals disembarked in Saint Helena.
[09:25:00]
Those 12 countries are Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the
United Kingdom and the United States of America. In addition, W.H.O. is supporting health authorities in South Africa to follow up people who were
on the flight from Saint Helena to Johannesburg with the woman who later died.
Meanwhile, investigations into the cause of the outbreak are continuing. Prior to boarding the ship, the first two cases had traveled through
Argentina, Chile and Uruguay on a bird watching trip, which included visits to sites where the species of rat that's known to carry Andes virus was
present.
W.H.O. is working with health authorities in Argentina to understand the movement of the couple. And I thank the government of Argentina for its
cooperation, given its experience and expertise with Andes virus. We have also arranged for shipments of 2500 diagnostic kits from Argentina to
laboratories in five countries.
I would also like to thank the governments of Cabo Verde, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain and the United Kingdom for their close partnership and
support. I also thank the many partners who have provided expertise, including the NICD in South Africa, the Institut Pasteur de Dakar in
Senegal and Ah Hua here in Switzerland.
And I would also like to thank the ship's operator for its cooperation and the passengers and crew who are going through a very difficult and
frightening situation. I have been in touch with the ship's captain regularly, including this morning. He told me, moral has improved
significantly since the ship started moving again.
I thank him for everything he has done to protect those under his duty of care. W.H.O. will continue to work with all relevant governments and
partners to provide care for those who are affected, protect the safety and dignity of passengers and prevent onward spread of the virus. Christian,
back to you.
CHRISTIAN LINDMEIER, SPOKESPERSON FOR WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: Thank you very much, Dr. Tedros. With this, we come now to the rounds of questions
and answers again, please identify yourself clearly. Raise your hand if you want to ask a question then unmute yourself if called upon, and please also
take down your hand in case your question has been asked and answered by one of the colleagues.
Now this the first question goes to Spanish news agency, Antonio Broto. Antonio, please go ahead.
ANTONIO BROTO, SPANISH JOURNALIST: Thank you, Christian. So, my first question is, in Spain, the central government and the regional authorities
of the Canary Islands remain divided about the issue of the ships stop over. So could you indicate what assurances the Spanish government has
provided and what kind of assistance the W.H.O. will provide once the ship arrives to Tenerife in this weekend.
If I may, I have a second question about this, a Dutch stewardess that has been utilized today in Amsterdam. Do you have data on this case and how she
may be infected? Did she travel in the same plane than one of the diseases from Saint Helena to Johannesburg? Thank you.
LINDMEIER: Thank you very much, Antonio, with the first question, we go to Dr. Abdi Mahamud, Director of Health Emergencies, Alert and Response.
DR. ABDIRAHMAN MAHAMUD, DIRECTOR OF HEALTH EMERGENCIES, ALERT AND RESPONSE OPERATIONS AT W.H.O.: Thanks so much -- And again, the appreciation of the
excellent support from Spain leadership, the technical team and all the actors included, in terms of our understanding, we do hear the concerns
coming from the regional government, and as DG indicated, we are doing everything possible to understand the risk.
As of now, what we know, the three, the two confirmed cases, suspected have been evacuated, the ship is doing everything possible to take the public
health measures, so the overall risk from our side is minimal, but we know that people has a long incubation period, so we have a clear guidance,
working with our ECDC calculus on the ship and the authority in Spain understanding the risk eradication measures.
[09:30:00]
So, we have clear disinfection plan that will not add additional risk. So, we are taking all the measures required to reduce, as overall our
assessment. And we'll get more details from the team on the ship. It's a low risk. So, where we are coordinating with our ECDC colleagues, with the
UK, with the Netherlands, with all the countries who have passengers on the floor, to understand a common way.
One is to reduce a further spread of the disease, which we see is limited, and then have a common understanding, a common approach based on public
health and evidence, solidarity and equity. I think they were in touch with them and will resolve the logistic issues and the guidance required to
implement this and reduce and take any considerations and feedback from the community the regional government, once again, we thank the federal
government for their excellent support.
LINDMEIER: Thank you very much, Abdi. For the second part, we go to Maria Van Kerkhove. Pardon me all first.
GHEBREYESUS: Yeah, I just wanted to add to what Abdi said, based on the International Health Regulations guidance, we have made a request to Spain,
and I have actually sent a letter personally to His Excellency, the prime minister, and based on that request, because this is part of the IHR
regulation, the prime minister have accepted.
But one thing I'd like to address here is on top of the, you know, the guidelines in the HR regulation, solidarity is the most important here, and
that's what the prime minister has shown. But on top of that, I think everybody has the moral duty to take care of the people who are on the
ship.
So, I hope those who have concerns at the Canary Island will understand and support and cooperate with the federal government. Of course, we understand
their concerns. But as I said in my statement, based on the risk assessment that we have, the risk to the people in the Canary Island is actually low.
So, the ship is now sailing to Canary Island, and I hope all the support will be provided. And thank you.
LINDMEIER: Thank you very much, Dr. Tedros. Second part, we got to Maria Van Kerkhove, Acting Director Epidemic and Pandemic management.
KERKHOVE: Yes, thank you. So, I believe the second question was related to a potential suspect case. So as the DG said in his remarks, we're getting
reports of suspect cases or potential suspect cases. These are alerts, as we call them. Some of them have had reported links to the ship or
passengers on the ship.
All of those will be followed up with the relevant authorities in each country, the countries themselves, whether it's through the ministries or
through the agencies in the countries, are actually assessing each person, case by case, looking at what type of exposure did they have?
Are they developing any symptoms? If anyone is developing symptoms, to be isolated immediately, testing to take place, and providing the appropriate
support. This is actually how the case in Switzerland was identified, following the notification from the ship's operators, which we're very
grateful for.
This individual presented to health care wasn't feeling well, was immediately isolated, was tested. This is actually public health actions in
the works. And I did just want to add on the global solidarity side of things, you know, in all of the efforts that we're doing right now,
including the ship sailing to the Canary Islands and to support the Spanish authorities.
We've pulled together all of the global experts related to hantaviruses, in particular the Andes virus. And that global solidarity also falls into
place on the technical side of things as well, coming together saying, what do we know? What have we learned from past outbreaks?
What's going on in the current situation, and essentially, how can we help? And that type of technical solidarity is really helpful. Some of the
diagnostic kits and the reagents that we are sending are also going to Spain, so that will support in some of the further investigations that need
to take place.
So, they're overall. We're very grateful for all of those who've come together from the technical side as well to support this event.
LINDMEIER: Thank you very much. Next question goes to Nina Larson from AFP. Nina, please go ahead. Nina.
[09:35:00]
NINA LARSON, JOURNALIST AT AFP: Yeah, hello, can you hear me?
LINDMEIER: Oh well.
LARSON: Great. So, I was going to ask if you -- would you consider this outbreak to be an epidemic, and also, should, what would you say about
people wearing masks? Should we be -- should people be wearing masks, is it considered to be airborne? And also, how long should contacts remain in
isolation to avoid further spread? Thank you.
LINDMEIER: Thank you very much, Nina. And we go back to Dr. Van Kerkhove.
KERKHOVE: Yeah. So, thanks, Nina. So, what we have is, you know, obviously the situation that's happening on the ship itself, and the follow up of the
contacts of the passengers who disembarked in Saint Helena. So far as you've heard, we have eight cases so far, five of whom have been confirmed,
three who have sadly died.
We have no further symptomatic patients who are on board, or passengers or crew on board, I should say, which is a good sign. But of course, there is
a long incubation period of the Andes virus. We know on board, they have taken some precautions to try to minimize the risk.
What they have advised on board is disinfection of the rooms. They have confined people to their cabins and providing food and water. And they have
asked as a precautionary measure for anyone leaving their room, excuse me to wear a medical mask. We certainly advise people who are caring for those
who are suspected of this Andes virus, or hantaviruses, to wear a higher level of personal protective equipment.
That guidance has been given to the people on board. But also, there are the two patients that are in hospital in the Netherlands, and there's a
patient in ICU in South Africa. And I am very happy to say, the patient in South Africa is doing better, and the two patients in the Netherlands, we
hear are stable.
So that is actually very good news. So, we have a situation that we are full -- we are monitoring very, very carefully these numbers may change as
we're doing follow up. We may see some additional cases be reported, and that shows that the active follow up is happening and that the testing is
being done.
What we know about transmission, and there's been a lot of questions posed to us about what is actually happening. What we do know is that the Andes
virus, in previous outbreaks, there has been instances of human-to-human transmission, mainly among close contacts, either providing clinical care,
or people who have had close physical contact.
And we believe that's happening, and has happened in the case here on the ship, as well, between the couple, the first and second cases, and also a
medical doctor providing care, as you probably know, those who develop symptoms, those who go on to develop disease, sometimes develop very severe
disease, which includes severe respiratory disease.
So, there may be some coughing, there may be some aerosolizing procedures that may be done, and of course, that's where we would require higher level
care. So, this is not COVID, this is not influenza. It spreads very, very differently. So, there are different precautions that people are taking.
So, we are supporting the ship's operators in the mitigation measures that they are putting on board. And as we've said, we are working to have a
proper and full disembarkment procedure step by step, to support authorities in the Canary Islands for the next stage of the people who are
on board.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Right. For The World Health Organization there with a briefing on the hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship currently in the Atlantic, the
W.H.O. detailing how what they describe as the Andes version of the hantavirus has claimed the lives of three people with at least five others
sickened, including two people who have been hospitalized in Amsterdam and one in South Africa.
All passengers, the W.H.O. says on the ship are being assessed. The organization is aware of reports of other people with symptoms who may have
had contact with one of the passengers. In each case, they say, we are in close contact with the relevant authorities. Given the incubation period,
which can be up to six weeks, it's possible the W.H.O. said that more cases may be reported.
They also said in that briefing that they have a clear disembarkation plan for when that vessel, that ship, docks in the Canary Islands. W.H.O.
insists the risk to the public is low. As we were coming out of that press up the W.H.O. representative there saying, this is not COVID, this is not
influenza.
Let's bring back Dr. Aileen Marty, we couldn't be better served today. Senior Advisor to the W.H.O. on responding to infectious disease outbreaks.
What did you make of what we just heard from some of those that you will know well there from the W.H.O.
[09:40:00]
OK. I think we're having some audio issues there. Dr. Aileen, can you hear me? Not sure that she can. I tell you what, we are going to take a very
short break. And that is, in fact, it for this hour of "Connect the World". "World Sport", of course, is back big night of football last night, well
worth watching that.
And we will be back in 15 minutes with the second hour of our show and a full update for you and analysis on what we have just heard from the W.H.O.
on that cruise ship headed for the Canary Islands, which has patients on board. Sadly, three have died, five who have contracted the hantavirus.
More on that after this.
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[09:45:00]
(WORLD SPORT)
END
