GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday that more hantavirus cases could emerge after the disease killed three passengers from a cruise ship but it expected the outbreak to be limited if precautions were taken.

Another sick passenger from the MV Hondius landed in Europe earlier in the day, as the vessel headed to the Spanish Canary Islands and health officials scrambled to map the outbreak of the potentially deadly human-to-human strain.

The fate of the Hondius sparked international alarm after three people travelling on it died, though health officials have played down fears of a wider global outbreak from the rat-borne virus, which is less contagious than COVID-19.