Suspected Hantavirus Outbreak on Atlantic Cruise Ship Claims Three Lives

A suspected hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship in the Atlantic has resulted in the deaths of three people, including an elderly couple, and has caused illness in at least three others, as reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) and South Africa’s Department of Health on Sunday.

The WHO announced that an investigation is ongoing, with one hantavirus case already confirmed. One patient is receiving intensive care at a hospital in South Africa, and the organization is collaborating with authorities to evacuate two more individuals displaying symptoms from the vessel.

The Dutch cruise operator stated that the ship is currently stationed off the coast of Cape Verde, a nation of islands off Africa’s western shoreline. Local authorities are providing assistance but have not yet permitted anyone to leave the ship. The two individuals in need of urgent medical attention are reportedly crew members.

Hantavirus infections are spread mainly by rodents

Hantaviruses are a group of viruses present worldwide, primarily transmitted through contact with the urine or feces of infected rodents such as rats and mice. The virus drew attention following the death of Betsy Arakawa, the wife of the late actor Gene Hackman, from a hantavirus infection in New Mexico last year.

Gene Hackman passed away approximately a week later at their residence due to heart disease.

Hantaviruses cause two serious syndromes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a severe disease that effects the lungs, and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, a severe disease that affects the kidneys.

While rare, WHO said hantavirus infections can be spread between people. There is no specific treatment or cure, but early medical attention can increase the chance of survival.

“WHO is aware of and supporting a public health event involving a cruise vessel sailing in the Atlantic Ocean,” the organization said. “Detailed investigations are ongoing, including further laboratory testing, and epidemiological investigations. Medical care and support are being provided to passengers and crew. Sequencing of the virus is also ongoing.”

The weekslong cruise started in Argentina

South Africa’s Department of Health said the ship, the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius, had left Argentina around three weeks ago for a cruise that included visits to Antarctica, the Falkland Islands and other stops. It was due to ultimately head to Spain’s Canary Islands on the other side of the Atlantic.

The first victim was a 70-year-old man who died on the ship and whose body was removed in the British territory of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, the South African health department said in a statement. The man’s wife collapsed at an airport in South Africa trying to take a flight to her home country of the Netherlands, the department said. She died at a nearby hospital.

The department identified the patient in intensive care in a hospital in Johannesburg as a British national. It said that person fell ill near Ascension Island, another remote island in the Atlantic, after the ship left Saint Helena and was transferred from there to South Africa.

Around 150 passengers were onboard

Around 150 tourists were onboard at the time of the outbreak, South Africa’s health department said. Several online tour operators said the Hondius, which is described as a specialist polar cruise ship, usually travels with around 70 crew members.

Oceanwide Expeditions, the company that runs the cruise, said the third victim’s body was still onboard the ship in Cape Verde and its priority was to ensure the two crew members who were ill received medical care.

“Local health authorities have visited the vessel to assess the condition of the two symptomatic individuals,” the company said. “They are yet to make a decision regarding the transfer of these individuals into medical care in Cape Verde.”

WHO said it was working with national authorities and the ship’s operators to conduct a “full public health risk assessment” and provide support for those still onboard.

South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases, meanwhile, was conducting contact tracing in the Johannesburg region to identify if other people were exposed to the infected passengers in South Africa.