PRAIA, May 3 -- With Agnes Pedrero in Geneva and Francois Ausseill in Johannesburg Three people have died on a cruise ship in the Atlantic, the WHO said yesterday, one a confirmed case of hantavirus - an illness usually transmitted to humans from rodents.

The outbreak occurred on the MV Hondius, travelling from Ushuaia in Argentina to Cape Verde.

"To date, one case of hantavirus infection has been laboratory confirmed, and there are five additional suspected cases," the World Health Organization told AFP.

"Of the six affected individuals, three have died and one is currently in intensive care in South Africa."

Earlier yesterday, South Africa's health ministry told AFP there had been an outbreak of a "severe acute respiratory illness",...