First Hantavirus Case On Cruise Ship Contracted Before Boarding – WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) has revealed that the first confirmed case of hantavirus connected to the deadly outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship happened before the passenger boarded the vessel.

The expedition cruise vessel left Ushuaia on April 1 for a journey across the Atlantic Ocean to Cape Verde with around 150 passengers and crew members on board.

According to the WHO, the first victim was a 70-year-old Dutch tourist who started feeling sick on April 6.

He reportedly experienced symptoms such as fever, headaches and mild diarrhoea before later developing breathing problems. He died aboard the ship on April 11.

Anais Legand, a WHO technical expert on viral haemorrhagic fevers, explained that the timeline of the illness showed that the man “could not have been infected on the ship, or on one of the islands” visited during the voyage.

“The incubation period — the time between infection and the onset of symptoms — is between one and six weeks but it is typically more like two to three weeks,” AFP quoted her as saying.

“The man very clearly had exposure before boarding the ship. For this virus, there is no evidence that the disease can be transmitted to someone before symptoms appear.”

She added that the exposure was “certainly linked to a rodent”.

Health officials believe the infection was most likely linked to contact with rodents, which are known carriers of hantavirus.

People can become infected through exposure to rodent urine, droppings or saliva.

Although hantavirus is usually not spread between humans, authorities said the Andes strain of the virus has previously shown the ability to spread from person to person in rare situations.

The WHO added that the Dutch couple involved in the outbreak had travelled around parts of South America, including Argentina, before joining the cruise.

Two Argentine officials investigating the outbreak said the couple may have been exposed to infected rodents while bird-watching near a landfill area in Ushuaia before departure.

So far, three people have died during the outbreak, including the Dutch couple and a German passenger.

WHO director-general, Tedros Ghebreyesus announced on X that eight cases linked to the outbreak had been identified as of May 6, with three laboratory-confirmed as hantavirus infections.

Authorities in Switzerland also confirmed another hantavirus case involving a passenger from the ship who later received treatment at a hospital in Zurich.

Meanwhile, two confirmed hantavirus patients and one suspected case were evacuated from the cruise ship on Wednesday.

After the evacuation, the vessel departed Cape Verde and continued its journey toward the Canary Islands.

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