Health authorities across several countries are working to contain a hantavirus outbreak linked to the cruise ship MV Hondius after the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed five infections connected
to the vessel.
The outbreak has raised concern because the Andes strain of hantavirus identified in some patients is among the few strains known to allow limited human-to-human transmission. Since April, three people linked to the ship have died while several others remain under medical observation.
Hundreds Being Traced Across Countries
According to WHO, there were 147 people on board the ship, including 88 passengers and 59 crew members from 23 nationalities.
Authorities in South Africa, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain and the United States are tracing passengers and close contacts who may have been exposed.
Passengers from Georgia, Arizona, California, Texas and Virginia in the US are under observation, though none has shown symptoms so far. Swiss authorities are also tracing contacts linked to a passenger being treated in Zurich.
Officials are additionally tracking passengers who left the vessel earlier at Saint Helena and other ports before the outbreak was fully understood.
Confirmed Cases And Deaths
WHO has confirmed five hantavirus cases so far while several others remain suspected infections.
The first known patient, a 70-year-old Dutch man, fell ill on April 6 with fever, headache and stomach-related symptoms before developing respiratory distress. He died onboard on April 11.
His 69-year-old wife later became ill during travel and died at a hospital near Johannesburg on April 26. Tests later confirmed hantavirus infection.
A German woman who developed fever and pneumonia-like symptoms died onboard the ship on May 2. Her case is being treated as a suspected hantavirus death.
Another confirmed patient remains in intensive care in South Africa after developing severe breathing difficulties. A separate patient is receiving treatment in Switzerland.
What Authorities Know About The Virus
WHO believes the Dutch couple may have contracted the virus in Argentina before boarding the cruise on April 1.
Genetic sequencing later confirmed the infections involved the Andes strain of hantavirus.
“This is not a virus that spreads like flu or like Covid. It’s quite different,” WHO official Maria Van Kerkhove said.
Hantavirus usually spreads through rodents, though experts say limited human-to-human transmission has been reported with the Andes strain, particularly during close contact.
WHO has advised passengers and crew members to monitor symptoms for 45 days. There is currently no vaccine or specific treatment for hantavirus, although early intensive care can improve survival chances.
