CAPE TOWN, May 6 (Xinhua) -- South Africa has detected the human-to-human transmissible Andes strain in two hantavirus cases in the country who disembarked from a cruise ship linked to an outbreak of the disease, according to the health minister's presentation to parliament on Wednesday.

The Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi was virtually briefing the Portfolio Committee on Health in the National Assembly on the implications of the outbreak.

In a presentation made available to Xinhua, he said the cases were linked to a cluster of severe acute respiratory illness reported by a Dutch-flagged cruise ship carrying 147 tourists. The vessel departed Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1 and sailed across the South Atlantic with multiple stops. Two deaths and one critical case were reported on board.

The presentation said two passengers later died after disembarkation, while a third was hospitalized in South Africa following medical evacuation.

Motsoaledi said there are more than 38 known strains of hantavirus, which is a zoonotic disease transmitted from wild animals to humans, mainly through contact with rodent excreta.

"While more than 38 strains are known, we wish to deal with only one, which is called the Andes Strain. This is the strain that is predominant in South America, and the NICD (National Institute for Communicable Diseases) tests have revealed that indeed this was the cause of infection for the two persons tested in South Africa," he said.

"This is the only strain that is known to cause human-to-human transmission, but such transmission is very rare and, as said earlier, only happens due to very close contact," he said.

The presentation added that the World Health Organization currently assesses the global risk as low, while South African authorities continue contact tracing and monitoring to contain the spread. ■