Three people have died aboard the Dutch ship MV Hondius, which is currently anchored off the coast of Cape Verde, and five other suspected cases of the disease, known as hantavirus, have been identified. Photo: AFP via Getty Images

The news came as the medical evacuation of three passengers to the Netherlands took place Wednesday morning. Switzerland, meanwhile, confirmed that a man who had traveled on the ship was being treated for hantavirus in the Swiss city of Zurich.

The Swiss government said in a statement that there was no threat to the wider population.

The World Health Organisation said the patient responded to an email from the cruise operator and went to hospital.

The WHO confirmed that there were now three confirmed cases and five suspected cases of hantavirus, which is typically contracted through contact with organic matter from infected rodents.

The WHO also confirmed this outbreak is the Andes strain of the virus, which is known to be transmissible between people and is endemic in parts of Argentina, where the Hondius luxury cruise ship began its voyage.

Hantavirus is potentially fatal and has no treatments. But the WHO has repeatedly stressed there is a low threat to the public from this outbreak.

WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove told a news conference Tuesday that Hantavirus, unlike influenza or Covid-19, is only transmissible from person to person through close contact, such as sharing a bed or food.

The Hondius has almost 150 people on board and remains marooned off the coast of Cape Verde in west Africa, where it has been since at least Monday, after authorities refused it permission to dock.

Three passengers have died in the outbreak and the WHO said in an update Wednesday that there were so far eight cases, three of which are confirmed as hantavirus by laboratory testing.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X that three patients with suspected hantavirus were evacuated from the ship Wednesday morning. Cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions said in a statement that two of them had "acute symptoms."

One medic is on board the Hondius and two more infectious disease specialists from the Netherlands are due to board the ship and remain on board.

Spain's national government in Madrid had said that the Canary Islands would accept the ship and it would begin a three-to-four-day journey there — but the archipelago's regional government opposed the move.

"This decision is not based on any technical criteria, nor is there sufficient information to reassure the public or guarantee their safety," regional leader Fernando Clavijo told radio station COPE.

Clavijo said he had requested an urgent meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, though the decision ultimately rests with the country's national government which can overrule regional authorities.

A British man is still being treated in an intensive care unit in South Africa.

The three passengers to have died were a Dutch couple and a German national; none have been identified.