NEW YORK \u2014 The World Health Organization said on Friday \u200bthat eight people had fallen ill, including three who died, in a hantavirus outbreak \u200clinked to a cruise ship, with six confirmed cases and \u2060two probable cases.<\/p>\n
Here \u200bare some details:<\/p>\n
Six \u2060of the cases have been confirmed as \u200cAndes virus, a \u200ctype of hantavirus through PCR testing, the \u2060WHO said.The ship \u2060had 147 passengers and crew on board when the outbreak was first reported on May 2, while 34 others had already left<\/a> the vessel.Four patients remain hospitalized \u200cin South Africa, the Netherlands \u200band Switzerland, while a suspected case sent to Germany tested negative.Separately, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reiterated on Friday that the U.S. \u200cis closely monitoring the situation with U.S. \u200btravelers on board the cruise ship.The CDC said it plans to evacuate American passengers aboard the ship on a government medical repatriation flight to Omaha, Nebraska.There are 17 U.S. citizens aboard the ship, according to cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions.The ship left Cabo Verde on May 6 and was heading<\/a> to Spain’s Canary Islands, where passengers are expected to disembark.The WHO said the \u200brisk to the wider global population is \u200clow, but the \u200crisk \u2060to passengers and crew on the ship is moderate.The agency said the first case may have been infected before boarding, possibly during \u200ctravel in Argentina \u200band Chile, with later spread \u200clikely occurring on \u2060the \u200bship.<\/p>\n