No Taiwanese people aboard hantavirus-hit cruise ship: CDC

Taipei, May 8 (CNA) No Taiwanese citizens were on the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius, Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Friday, dismissing rumors that Taiwanese travelers had returned home from the vessel following a hantavirus outbreak.

The clarification came after the Spanish daily El País, citing an anonymous passenger, reported that a traveler from Taiwan left the MV Hondius in Saint Helena on April 24 and returned home.

In a statement, the CDC said it contacted International Health Regulations (IHR) focal points in the Netherlands and Argentina, as well as liaison channels at the World Health Organization (WHO), on May 7 to verify passenger information.

Authorities in both countries later confirmed that no Taiwanese nationals appeared on the passenger or crew manifests, the CDC said.

The agency added that according to the latest figures released by cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions, the ship carried 149 passengers and crew members, none of whom were Taiwanese.

The CDC said the available information was sufficient to confirm that claims of Taiwanese passengers aboard the ship were false.

According to the CDC, the WHO had identified eight ship-related hantavirus cases as of May 5, including three deaths. Three infections were laboratory-confirmed, with two genetically sequenced as Andes virus infections.

The WHO believes the outbreak likely began with a passenger who contracted the virus through environmental exposure in Argentina or another part of South America before boarding the ship, the CDC said. Subsequent infections were believed to involve human-to-human transmission following prolonged close contact.

The WHO has stressed that the overall public health risk remains low because hantavirus is not easily transmitted between people.