India, May 9 -- The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) rushed to Spain on Saturday for "emergency consultations" as the global health community grapples with the rising hantavirus cases linked to a luxury Antarctic cruise.

Simultaneously, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) mobilised a specialised medical transport team to evacuate 17 American citizens from the vessel and quarantine them at a facility in Nebraska.

The group will be immediate transferred to a high-security biocontainment unit, marking one of the most significant federal quarantine operations since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic that gripped the world in early 2020.

The move comes amid growing concerns over the origin of ...