Hantavirus Shows No Sign of Mutating to Become More Contagious

The respiratory virus that caused a deadly outbreak on a cruise ship is showing no sign of mutating to become more contagious, even though more cases among former passengers may arise in coming weeks, said experts from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

The hantavirus’s genome has been sequenced and it’s similar to the one that caused outbreaks in South America in the past, said Andreas Hoefer, the center’s expert on microbiology and molecular epidemiology. That’s likely where the first passenger was infected before getting on the Hondius expedition vessel and spreading the pathogen, according to the EU’s public health agency.