Hantavirus outbreak: Three people have lost their lives, and an inquiry is currently in progress following a suspected outbreak that affected an Atlantic Ocean cruise ship.
While only one case of has been confirmed through laboratory testing, five other passengers have reported illness on the MV Hondius, which was en route from to Cape Verde on 1 April.
The deceased include an elderly Dutch couple and a German citizen, as reported by the Dutch shipowner Oceanwide Expeditions.
British crew member in need of ‘urgent’ medical care
A crew member requires “urgent” medical attention, while another Briton is receiving treatment in intensive care.
The British passenger is currently in a “critical but stable” state after being medically evacuated to South Africa.
The operator reported that two crew members – one from Britain and the other from the Netherlands – are still exhibiting “acute respiratory symptoms”, with one being mild and the other severe.
According to the , a total of seven hantavirus cases – two confirmed and five suspected – have been detected on the cruise ship to date.
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Atlantic cruise ship: Passengers will not be allowed off the MV Hondius
Passengers will not be permitted to disembark from the MV Hondius, which is currently the site of a hantavirus outbreak, until it arrives at the Canary Islands – located 900 miles northeast of its current position, Cape Verde.
Health authorities in Cape Verde have declined to permit the non-symptomatic passengers and crew to leave the vessel.
Dr. Maria van Kerkhove, the director for Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention at the World Health Organization (WHO), has been discussing the latest insights regarding the hantavirus outbreak on BBC Breakfast.
“Our working hypothesis is that there’s probably a couple of different types of transmission that might be happening: maybe some infection – exposure to rodents or their faeces or their saliva before passengers embarked – and potentially some limited human to human transmission among the contacts.”
“We want to ensure that they are safe, we want to ensure that even if they are infected – and like we said, we have no other symptomatic people on board – to make sure that they will receive medical care,” she added.
Hantavirus outbreak: What’s next for infected cruise ship
The cruise ship, which is carrying 150 people, is currently stranded in the Atlantic Ocean near the African coast after the island nation of Cape Verde declined to permit passengers to disembark due to health concerns.
The MV Hondius, which was engaged in a weeks-long polar cruise from Argentina to Antarctica when passengers began to exhibit symptoms of illness, is set to navigate towards Spain’s Canary Islands, according to the World Health Organization.
In the meantime, Spanish authorities have not yet verified whether they will permit the ship to dock, but they have stated that they are closely monitoring the situation, the NY Post reported.
While the ship awaits assistance, distressed passengers have been confined to their cabins due to the ongoing health crisis associated with the rodent-borne disease.
Authorities in Cape Verde dispatched teams comprising doctors, surgeons, nurses, and laboratory specialists to offer medical assistance to the vessel, according to officials.
On Monday, at least five individuals equipped with full protective gear — including white overalls, boots, and face masks — were observed disembarking from the ship into a smaller vessel, as per the NY Post.
The timeline for the evacuation of the ill people on board remains uncertain.
Officials from the WHO suspect that the illness may have started to spread following an unusual instance of human-to-human transmission among very close contacts on the ship.
