Health authorities are on heightened alert following a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship carrying passengers from several countries, after three people died and several others were monitored as possible cases.
The MV Hondius set sail from Argentina a month ago and made stops in remote wilderness areas. According to the information available so far, eight cases — three confirmed and five suspected — have been identified among passengers.
Four people were airlifted for hospital treatment, while a major contact-tracing operation is under way involving passengers who have returned to their countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, South Africa, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
“It’s not Covid”
WHO official Maria Van Kerkhove made clear that the situation does not point to a pandemic.
“It’s not Covid, it’s not flu. It is transmitted in a very different way,” she said.
Experts explain that the Andes strain of hantavirus is not easily transmitted from person to person, unlike highly contagious diseases such as measles.
The main route of transmission is through contact with rodents, or with air containing particles from the urine, droppings or saliva of infected rodents.
However, this particular strain has previously been recorded as spreading between people after very close and prolonged contact.
How it may have spread on the ship
Experts consider it possible that some of the infections occurred on board the ship, due to enclosed spaces, shared cabins and dining areas.
Among the victims was a Dutch passenger who disembarked in Saint Helena on 24 April. The woman had shared a cabin with her husband, who had died on board a few days earlier.
What are the symptoms?
Symptoms usually appear two to four weeks after exposure to the virus, but in some cases they can develop more than a month later.
Patients may experience:
- fever
- severe fatigue
- muscle aches
- shortness of breath
- abdominal pain
- nausea
- vomiting
- diarrhoea
Although diagnostic tests are available, there is no specific treatment for hantavirus. Early hospitalisation and supportive care are considered crucial for survival.
“The risk to the public remains very low”
The UK Health Security Agency emphasises that the risk to the wider public remains “very low”.
British authorities are asking those who returned from the cruise to self-isolate for 45 days as a precaution.
The ship is now heading towards the Canary Islands, while the passengers who remain on board are in isolation and the vessel has undergone deep cleaning.
Oceanwide Expeditions said that none of the people still on board the ship is showing symptoms.
