Emily Mullen

So this is a respiratory virus, and it's quite rare.

It's usually spread through the droppings and urine of rodents.

Right.

So as of Wednesday, we know that three passengers have died, this Dutch couple and a German national.

The World Health Organization on Wednesday confirmed that these deaths occurred due to

the anti-strain of hantavirus.

And this is significant because the anti-strain can spread through human-to-human transmission.

This is not the usual way in which hantavirus spreads.

So hantaviruses are actually a family of viruses, and they're found all over the world.

They're typically carried by rodents, as I said before.

The virus is spread to humans usually when people breathe in air and dust particles

that contain rodent droppings or urine.

And here in the U.S., most of the hantavirus cases over the years have been in the Southwest, so New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and California.

And there are some occasional cases in the state of Washington as well.

In the case of the Dutch couple, one theory as to how they were initially infected is that they were apparently birdwatching in the city of Ushuaia in Argentina before boarding the ship.

I spoke with a hantavirus expert this morning who said the virus has previously been found in rodents there.

And he said all it really takes is the virus to be present in animals constantly.

in a particular location for there to be a risk for humans.

So authorities from several countries are coordinating this very complicated response right now.

Passengers are being monitored for symptoms and of course asked to isolate if they develop any symptoms.