The Minister of Health reaffirmed today that the risk of hantavirus transmission is very low for residents in Portugal, assuring that the authorities are monitoring the evolution of the outbreak hour by hour.

“We are receiving information hourly, but at this moment the Directorate-General of Health (DGS) assesses the risk for residents in Portugal as very low, with no widespread transmission expected,” said Ana Paula Martins, in a press conference after the Council of Ministers.

According to the minister, Portugal is monitoring the situation of the cruise ship outbreak, which has already caused three deaths, through the DGS, the national health authority, but also through international health authorities.

The official recalled that the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) state that the risk to the general population of “the spread of the Hondius cruise ship outbreak is very low”.

“All health authorities are in contact and this is ongoing,” the minister assured.

On Wednesday, the ECDC admitted as a possibility that some passengers may have been exposed to the Andes strain of the virus in Argentina before boarding and may have transmitted the virus to other passengers already on board the cruise ship.

The MV Hondius left the vicinity of the port of Praia, Cape Verde, on Wednesday, and is expected to arrive in the Canary Islands within two days. The people on board are expected to be evacuated and repatriated under the European civil protection mechanism, according to the Spanish government.

The ship traveled the route between Ushuaia, Argentina, and the Canary Islands throughout the month of April, with stops in the South Atlantic for wildlife observation tourism.