[Source: AAP News]

Countries worldwide are seeking to prevent further spread of the hantavirus, after an outbreak on ‌a cruise ship, by tracking those who had disembarked before the virus was detected and anyone in close contact with them since.

Three people – a Dutch couple and a German citizen – died in the outbreak on ‌the MV Hondius.

In total, five people are confirmed to have contracted the virus, with another three suspected cases, the World Health Organisation said.

[Source: AAP News]

Hantavirus is usually spread by rodents but can in rare cases be transmitted person-to-person.

All passengers ‌who disembarked in St Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean, where the ship made a stop on April 24, have been contacted, the ship’s operator said.

This included people from at least 12 countries, among them seven United Kingdom citizens and six from the United States.

The first confirmed case of hantavirus in this outbreak came in early May.

The WHO repeated that the risk to the general public was low even if the Andean strain of the virus, found in several victims, can in rare cases be transmitted among humans.

“This is not coronavirus, this is a very different virus,” Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO director of epidemic and ‌pandemic management, told a press conference.

“This ‌is not the same situation we ⁠were in six years ago.”

The WHO said it was working on step-by-step guidance for when the dozens of passengers remaining on the ​ship, which is sailing to the Canary Islands, arrives there on Saturday or Sunday and the passengers disembark and travel home.

None of these passengers currently have any symptoms.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was closely monitoring the situation, adding that the risk to the public was extremely low at the time.

One French citizen has been in contact with a person who had fallen ill but was not showing symptoms, officials said.

Oceanwide Expeditions said it was ​working to establish details ‌of all passengers and crew who embarked and disembarked on various stops since March 20.

The Dutch couple who died, and who are believed to be the first hantavirus cases of this outbreak, boarded ​on April 1.

Dutch airline KLM said it had taken the Dutch woman off a plane in Johannesburg on April 25 due to her deteriorating medical condition.

She died before she could reach the Netherlands.

According to broadcaster RTL, a KLM stewardess who had been in contact with her has been admitted to a hospital in Amsterdam after showing possible hantavirus symptoms.

Crew and passengers who helped the ​Dutch ​woman who died are being called daily for health checks, Dutch authorities told ​broadcaster NOS.

Three patients were taken away from the ship on Wednesday.

Two have been admitted to a ‌hospital in the Netherlands, while another was transferred to Germany for medical care.

Martin Anstee, an expedition guide, was one of the two evacuees in hospital in the Netherlands, according to Sky News, and told them he was “doing okay” but “there are still lots of tests to be done”.

The Duesseldorf University Clinic, treating the German patient, said she was not a confirmed case but rather a contact and was undergoing tests.

In Switzerland, a man who travelled on the cruise ship and was admitted to a hospital tested positive for the infection, officials said.

A Danish citizen who was aboard the Hondius has returned home and has been advised to self-isolate as a precaution, Danish ​health authorities said.

In Canada, officials said that two Canadians on the cruise returned home before the outbreak was identified and another Canadian was on the same flight as a symptomatic person.

All three are ​currently asymptomatic.