Monroe resident aboard cruise ship at center of hantavirus outbreak

Monroe resident Jake Rosmarin has been posting from inside the M/V Hondius as the expedition cruise ship moved toward the Canary Islands with a hantavirus outbreak, three deaths and a tightened medical response aboard.

The World Health Organization said it was notified May 2 about a severe respiratory illness cluster on the Dutch-flagged vessel, which had sailed from Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1 and carried 147 people, 88 passengers and 59 crew, from 23 nationalities. By May 4, the agency said seven cases had been identified, including two laboratory-confirmed hantavirus infections, five suspected cases, three deaths, one critically ill patient and three people with mild symptoms. WHO said illness began between April 6 and April 28 and assessed the public risk as low.

Rosmarin’s updates have given the public a rare look at what that means day to day. He said people needing care and screening had been evacuated, two infectious disease physicians were now on board, and no additional passengers were showing symptoms at the time of his update. He also said passengers still had access to fresh air on outer decks, meals could be delivered to cabins and the crew was doing everything it could to keep people safe and informed. Rosmarin said, “What’s happening right now is very real.”

Oceanwide Expeditions, which operates the ship, said a passenger died on April 11, another Dutch passenger died after being disembarked in St. Helena and a German passenger died May 2. The company also said a passenger had been medically evacuated to Johannesburg on April 27 and later confirmed to have a hantavirus variant, while two crew members developed acute respiratory symptoms and needed urgent care. Cape Verdean health authorities visited the ship, and disembarkation and medical screening required authorization. By May 6, the three people awaiting transfer had been disembarked, and the ship was cleared to head for Spain’s Canary Islands, where medical teams were expected to screen everyone on arrival.

For Monroe, Rosmarin’s name has become the local connection to a global outbreak. Town Supervisor Maureen Richardson said the community was hoping for his safe return, and his posts have turned a distant public-health crisis into something Orange County families could follow in real time. Hantavirus is rare in the United States but can cause severe disease; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says national surveillance began in 1993, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome became nationally notifiable in 1995, and 890 cases had been reported through the end of 2023.