The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday assured that the hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship in the Atlantic is not the beginning of a Covid-like epidemic or pandemic and is expected to remain limited if proper public health measures are followed, news agency AFP reported.

"This is not the start of an epidemic. This is not the start of a pandemic. This is not Covid," WHO's Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention Director Maria Van Kerkhove told reporters.