The WHO said that nine cases of hantavirus has been reported, with two more people being looked at, they expect that more cruise passengers will become sick. World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said "our work is not over" to contain hantavirus.
Dr Tedros told a joint news conference in Madrid with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez that there is no sign that we are seeing the start of a larger outbreak of hantavirus. "But of course the situation could change, and given the long incubation period of the virus, it's possible we might see more cases in the coming weeks," Dr Tedros said.
Most countries have followed the WHO's guidelines to quarantine for 42 days and constant monitoring of people who have been in conatct with those infected.
However, the United States will not necessarily be quarantining according to Jay Bhattacharya, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Mr Sanchez defended the actions his government has decided to take to protect people and ensure that the hantavirus is contained. He said the "world does not need more selfishness or more fear. What it needs are countries that show solidarity and want to step forward."
WHO Head of Communications on Emergencies Nyka Alexander said that the "amount of time from when you're exposed to when you might actually start falling sick can be up to six weeks with this virus".
Alexander said that the recommended quarantine time is 42 days, satrting from the moment the passengers stepped off the cruise ship. "That's the entire incubation period, so sort of starting the clock off at zero the moment they stepped off the ship as an excess of caution," she said.
Alexander continued to assure that hantavirus is "not a new virus" and has cases reported every year "so, it's not new. And we've seen that when it's not in a ship where people are in such close contact with those very particular dynamics that you have in a closed environment, when it's back in a wider setting, a more open setting where people can stay away from others, it doesn't spread," she said.
