The head of the World Health Organization said Thursday he hoped an outbreak of the deadly hantavirus would prompt the Trump administration to reconsider its decision to leave the United Nations agency.
The outbreak aboard the cruise liner MV Hondius is now believed to have killed three and infected five. U.S. health officials are monitoring Americans who disembarked the trip last month and returned home after the first death.
The Andes strain of the virus, which is carried by rodents, is capable of spreading between people. Health authorities suspect the first victims, a Dutch couple, may have contracted that strain on a bird-watching trip in South America before boarding the ship in Argentina on April 1.
Argentina had withdrawn from the WHO two weeks before, following the U.S. withdrawal in January. President Donald Trump said he was pulling out because he believed the agency had mishandled the Covid-19 pandemic, among other issues.
