GENEVA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Seven cases of the Andes virus hantavirus infections have been confirmed among people on board the cruise ship MV Hondius, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.

The overall tally of symptomatic cases has reached nine, after a French passenger evacuated from the MV Hondius on Sunday had tested positive for the virus, Olivier Le Polain, head of the Epidemiology & Analytics for Response (EAR) of the WHO, said in a live social media conversation held in Geneva.

The WHO announced on Saturday that as of May 8, eight symptomatic cases of the virus have been reported, including three deaths.

Andes virus is a rodent-borne hantavirus endemic to South America and the only known hantavirus capable of limited human-to-human transmission. ■