SouthernWorldwide.com – An apparent hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean has resulted in three fatalities, including an elderly married couple, and has sickened at least three other individuals, as confirmed by health officials and the cruise operator.
The vessel was awaiting assistance on Monday near Cape Verde, an island nation off the western coast of Africa. However, local authorities have not permitted anyone to disembark, according to the operator.
The World Health Organization stated that at least one case of hantavirus has been confirmed through laboratory testing, and an investigation is currently underway. The health agency also reported five additional suspected cases, one of which involves a patient in intensive care at a South African hospital. They are collaborating with authorities to evacuate two other individuals exhibiting symptoms from the ship.
Dr. Ann Lindstrand, a WHO official in Cape Verde, informed The Associated Press of a potential new case on the ship, involving an individual with mild fever symptoms. No further details regarding this specific case were disclosed.
Oceanwide Expeditions, the Dutch company operating the ship, reported that the two other sick individuals on board are crew members experiencing respiratory symptoms who require immediate medical attention. The company noted that Cape Verdean authorities are providing assistance, despite prohibiting individuals from leaving the cruise ship.
“Local health authorities have visited the vessel to assess the condition of the two symptomatic individuals,” the company stated. “They are yet to make a decision regarding the transfer of these individuals into medical care in Cape Verde.”
Dr. Lindstrand mentioned that Cape Verde has dispatched a medical team consisting of two doctors, a nurse, and a laboratory specialist to the ship across three separate trips. She indicated that plans are being made for medical evacuations, where passengers would be transported from the ship via ambulance to an airport and subsequently flown out of Cape Verde.
The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed its involvement in exploring options for evacuating some individuals from the ship.
Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, the WHO’s regional director for Europe, issued a statement on Monday asserting that “The risk to the wider public remains low. There is no need for panic or travel restrictions.”
Despite this, Cape Verde’s Health Ministry has announced that the ship will not be permitted to dock on the island for the time being, citing public health concerns. The vessel is to remain in open waters close to the shore.
Hantaviruses, which are present globally, are a group of viruses primarily transmitted through contact with the urine or feces of infected rodents, such as rats and mice. These viruses gained public attention after the late actor Gene Hackman’s wife, Betsy Arakawa, succumbed to a hantavirus infection in New Mexico last year.
Hackman himself passed away approximately a week later at their home due to heart disease.
Hantaviruses are responsible for two severe illnesses, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a critical condition affecting the lungs, and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, a serious illness impacting the kidneys.
Although rare, the WHO has indicated that hantavirus infections can be transmitted between people. There is no specific treatment or cure available, but prompt medical intervention can improve survival rates.
“WHO is aware of and supporting a public health event involving a cruise vessel sailing in the Atlantic Ocean,” the organization stated. “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.”
South Africa’s Department of Health reported that the ship, the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius, had departed from Argentina roughly three weeks prior for a voyage that included destinations such as Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, and other locations. The intended final destination was the Canary Islands in Spain.
The first fatality was a 70-year-old man who passed away on the ship and whose body was disembarked in Saint Helena, a British territory in the South Atlantic, according to the South African health department’s statement. Oceanwide Expeditions confirmed his death occurred on April 11. A spokesperson for the company stated in a release that his cause of death “could not be determined on board.”
The man’s wife reportedly collapsed at an airport in South Africa while attempting to board a flight to her home country, the Netherlands. She passed away at a nearby hospital. Both the man and his wife were Dutch nationals, as confirmed by Oceanwide Expeditions.
A third passenger on the cruise ship died on May 2, the company reported. The body of this passenger, a German national, remained on board the vessel, according to the company.
South Africa’s health department identified the patient currently in intensive care at a Johannesburg hospital as a British national. The department stated that this individual fell ill near Ascension Island, another remote Atlantic island, after the ship departed from Saint Helena, and was subsequently transferred to South Africa.
Oceanwide Expeditions clarified that the person currently in intensive care represents the only confirmed case of hantavirus linked to the cruise ship to date.
Currently, there are 149 individuals on board the ship, representing 23 different nationalities, as it remains off the coast of Cape Verde, according to the company. The people still on board comprise 88 passengers and 61 crew members, Oceanwide Expeditions detailed. Among the passengers are seventeen Americans.
Travel blogger Jake Rosmarin was among those still on the ship on Monday, as he shared in a social media post. Rosmarin appealed to the public for “kindness and understanding” in an emotional video.
“What’s happening right now is very real for all of us here. We’re not just a story. We’re not just headlines. We’re people. People with families, with lives, with people waiting for us at home,” Rosmarin expressed. “There’s a lot of uncertainty, and that’s the hardest part. All we want right now is to feel safe, to have clarity, and to get home.”
Oceanwide Expeditions has stated that “strict precautionary measures” are being implemented on board, including isolation and hygiene protocols, as well as medical monitoring.
The WHO has confirmed its collaboration with local authorities and the ship’s operators to conduct a “full public health risk assessment” and provide necessary support to those remaining on board.
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Meanwhile, South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases is undertaking contact tracing within the Johannesburg region to identify any other individuals who may have been exposed to the infected passengers in South Africa.
