Muscat: The World Health Organization (WHO) has cautioned against overestimating the risks posed by hantavirus, stressing that it does not herald the start of a new pandemic and does not spread in the same way as the coronavirus.

According to Oman News Agency, Maria Van Kerkhove, Acting Director of the WHO's Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Threat Management, emphasized at a press conference in Geneva that most hantaviruses are not transmitted between humans. She noted that the public health risk remains low, both globally and in the Canary Islands, where the cruise ship MV Hondius is located.

The outbreak is linked to the Andes virus, the only known type of hantavirus with a limited capacity for human-to-human transmission through close and prolonged contact, particularly within enclosed spaces, the WHO explained.

The risk is largely confined to passengers aboard the ship, with precautionary measures including isolation of the infected, disinfection of cabins, deployment of a health expert to the vessel, and provision of thousands of diagnostic tests to support screening.

To date, the WHO has recorded eight cases linked to the ship, including three deaths, while the overall risk assessment remains at a low level.