An outbreak of hantavirus aboard the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius has so far sickened eight people, killing three of them. Five of these cases are confirmed and three are suspected, and as information about the outbreak unfolds, it's causing panic, leading some to draw parallels to the early months of 2020 . “This is not coronavirus," said Maria van Kerkhove, director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness at the World Health Organization (WHO), at a May 7 press conference about the outbreak. "I want to be unequivocal here; this is not SARS-CoV-2 and not the start of a COVID pandemic.” The kind of hantavirus involved in this outbreak—a rare form known as Andes virus, WHO officials have confirmed —is the only hantavirus that can spread from person to person. But the situation aboard the ship is a contained outbreak that is not likely to spark a pandemic, van Kerkhove said.…