Health Officials Downplay Pandemic Risk From Cruise Hantavirus Outbreak

The deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship doesn’t risk triggering the next pandemic, World Health Organization officials said, downplaying an incident that has raised concern about a new viral contagion.

“This is not Covid, this is not influenza,” Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s director for epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, told reporters Thursday. “This is an outbreak on a ship. We know this virus. This is not the same situation we were in six years ago.”