The World Health Organization (WHO) says the first hantavirus case on the polar expedition ship MV Hondius could not have been infected during the voyage, according to an expert who spoke to AFP. The ship departed Ushuaia in Argentina on April 1 and sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to Cape Verde, arriving on Sunday, with about 150 passengers and crew onboard. WHO was alerted on Saturday to a rare but deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard the vessel. After reviewing the timeline of symptoms and deaths reported aboard the ship, WHO determined that the first of three people who have died must have acquired the infection before boarding. That assessment implies the remaining cases on the Hondius occurred after that first person’s presumed pre-cruise infection, rather than during the cruise. The reports do not provide details on how WHO reached the conclusion beyond its assessment of the outbreak’s timing. The WHO position focuses on when the initial infection most likely occurred relative to the start of the cruise route between Argentina and Cape Verde.