Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove

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

It doesn't spread the same way like coronaviruses do.

This is not coronavirus.

This is a very different virus.

We know this virus.

Hunter viruses have been around for quite a while, but I want to be unequivocal here.

This is not SARS-CoV-2.

This is not the start of a COVID pandemic.

This is an outbreak that we see on a ship.

There's a confined area.

We have five confirmed cases so far.

We completely understand why these questions are coming, and we are trying to provide all of the information that we can, but this is not the same situation we were in six years ago.

It doesn't spread the same way like coronaviruses do.

It's very different.

It's that close, intimate contact that we've seen.

And again, I want to reiterate the actions that are being taken on board are precautionary to prevent any onward spread.

And so there's a lot that is being done right now to be able to try to minimize the risk even further.

The initial case was

and his wife, they joined the boat in Argentina.

And with the timing of the incubation period of hantavirus, which can be anywhere from one to six weeks,