China CDC says cruise-linked Andes hantavirus poses low risk domestically

(ECNS) - China's disease control authority said on Friday that the Andes hantavirus linked to an outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius poses a low public health risk in China, as the virus has no known natural host and no reported human infections in the country, according to local media reports.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that the outbreak involved the Andes virus, a strain of hantavirus associated with hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which is mainly found in the Americas.

The statement came after WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Thursday that eight cases had been reported on the cruise ship MV Hondius, including five confirmed infections and three suspected cases. He added that the broader public health risk remained low.

China's CDC said hantaviruses can cause two major diseases: hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. The Andes virus belongs to the latter category and has previously shown limited person-to-person transmission in confined settings involving prolonged close contact, the agency said.

However, hantavirus infections generally do not spread between people through ordinary social interaction or casual public contact, it added.

The agency also noted that cases of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in China have declined in recent years.

China's embassy in Cape Verde also mentioned earlier this week that no Chinese citizens were aboard the affected cruise ship.

(By Zhang Jiahao)