Hantavirus cruise ship has to undergo extra cleaning in Dutch port

A cruise ship at the center of a deadly hantavirus outbreak is undergoing further cleaning before it returns to its home port.

In a written statement Tuesday, Oceanwide Expeditions says the extra work is being carried out on the advice of the GGD local health authority in the port city of Rotterdam, where the vessel returned early last week.

It did not elaborate on why extra cleaning was required and the health authority did not immediately have a comment on the reason it asked for the further measures.

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said over the weekend that 12 hantavirus cases linked to the ship's voyage and three deaths have been reported to the organization.