7 cases of deadly hantavirus confirmed or suspected on stranded cruise ship

Praia: The World Health Organisation has said that two hantavirus cases have been confirmed and five others are suspected among people who were aboard the luxury cruise ship Hondius, which remains at sea in the Atlantic near Cape Verde.

In its most detailed update on the outbreak, issued late on Monday, the WHO said the seven cases included three deaths, one critically ill patient and three people with mild symptoms. Around 150 people are still on the vessel, which had been carrying mostly British, American and Spanish passengers on a voyage that departed from Argentina in March and is now off the coast of West Africa.

Officials have said the three people who died were a Dutch couple and a German national. A British national was evacuated from the ship from Ascension and is receiving treatment in South Africa.

The WHO also said it was attempting to trace people who were on a flight between Saint Helena and Johannesburg taken by a cruise passenger who later died of hantavirus. According to the UN health agency, the Dutch woman, whose husband had died of the virus on the ship off Cape Verde, left the vessel in Saint Helena with gastrointestinal symptoms on April 24. Her condition deteriorated during a flight to Johannesburg and she died on April 26.

Passengers remain on board as screening plans continue

Oceanwide Expeditions, the ship’s operator, said late on Monday that conditions on board remained orderly.

"The atmosphere on board m/v Hondius remains calm, with passengers generally composed," the company said in a statement.

The operator said it was working to have passengers screened and disembarked, and was considering sailing to Spain’s Las Palmas or Tenerife.

The WHO repeated its assessment that the risk to the wider public was low. It said hantavirus is typically spread by infected rodents and only rarely passes between humans. Cape Verde has asked the ship to remain at sea as a precautionary measure.

Timeline of the outbreak

Oceanwide Expeditions said the first affected passenger, the Dutch man, died on April 11 while the ship was sailing towards Tristan da Cunha. The company said his body remained on board until April 24, when it was taken off the vessel on St Helena, with his wife accompanying the repatriation.

According to the company, the man’s wife became ill three days later and later died. It also said another passenger, a Briton, became seriously ill and was medically evacuated to South Africa.

South African authorities have confirmed that the British patient, who is being treated in a Johannesburg hospital, tested positive for hantavirus. The Netherlands has also confirmed the virus in the Dutch woman who died.

Data from maritime analytics provider MarineTraffic showed the ship had visited some of the world’s most remote locations, including Tristan da Cunha, an island in the South Atlantic between Argentina and South Africa.

Company documentation shows the Hondius left Ushuaia in southern Argentina in March on a voyage marketed as an Antarctic nature expedition. Berth prices for the trip ranged from 14,000 to 22,000 euros, equivalent to about $16,000 to $25,000.