00:04Welcome to The Cube, Euronews fact-checking show.
00:07You might have seen this map on social media, which allegedly shows widespread cases of the Andes antivirus variant,
00:13following the outbreak which occurred on board the MV Hondius cruise ship.
00:18Screenshots and video capture of the map have been shared with captions suggesting that the virus is spreading rapidly.
00:24If we take a closer look at the map, here we can see that many countries in Europe and North
00:29America are colored red and orange
00:32and contain a large number of red nodes suggesting widespread antivirus cases.
00:37In reality, this map does not show the number of confirmed antivirus cases, contrary to social media claims.
00:44The map actually comes from a website called antivirusmap.com, which contains a clear disclaimer at the top,
00:51saying that it shows new signals, not confirmed cases. Clicking on the nodes brings up a list of news reports
00:57about the virus in general,
00:58rather than official cases. The disclaimer also provides data from the World Health Organization about confirmed and suspected cases,
01:07as well as deaths. It states that the risk of the virus to the general public is low.
01:12According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, as of the 24th of May, there are 12 cases,
01:18including 10 confirmed and two probable cases. Three people have died since the outbreak, all of whom were passengers on
01:25the ship.
01:26Antiviruses typically spread when humans come into contact with infected rodent urinary droppings,
01:32although the Andes variant is the only one known to spread between people, usually through prolonged close contact with symptomatic
01:39individuals.
01:39The WHO maintains that the risk of the virus to the global population remains low as it continues to monitor
01:47the situation.
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