WHO suspects rare close-contact hantavirus spread aboard MV Hondius
The agency assessed the threat to the wider public as low as medical evacuations and disembarkation planning continued.
The World Health Organization said it suspected rare person-to-person transmission of hantavirus among very close contacts aboard Oceanwide Expeditions’ MV Hondius. WHO official Maria Van Kerkhove said possible transmission may have involved spouses and people sharing cabins, while emphasizing that human-to-human spread is uncommon.
Officials said a Dutch couple and a German national had died. A British national evacuated from the ship remained in intensive care in South Africa, where authorities confirmed the patient tested positive for hantavirus. Dutch authorities also confirmed the virus in the Dutch woman who died.
WHO said its working assumption was that the Dutch couple became infected before boarding the ship in Argentina. The agency said other cases might have originated during cruise bird-watching excursions to islands inhabited by birds and rodents. Hantavirus is typically linked to contact with infected rodents, and WHO assessed the risk to the broader public as low.
Oceanwide Expeditions said two crew members needed urgent medical treatment. The Dutch foreign ministry was preparing to evacuate three people to the Netherlands. Arrangements for nearly 150 others aboard remained uncertain after Cape Verde declined to allow passengers to disembark because of the outbreak.