Cruise ship evacuates passengers after hantavirus outbreak spreads across countries

Three passengers had been evacuated from the Dutch-flagged cruise ship MV Hondius after a hantavirus outbreak spread across several countries, with confirmed cases now reported in South Africa and Switzerland and more travelers scattered across Europe.

The vessel left Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1 with 147 people aboard, including 88 passengers and 59 crew members from 23 nationalities. Its route took it through Antarctica, South Georgia, Nightingale Island, Tristan da Cunha, Saint Helena and Ascension Island, a long itinerary that helped turn one onboard illness cluster into a cross-border public-health problem once passengers began returning home.

The World Health Organization was notified on May 2 about a severe acute respiratory illness on board. By May 4, WHO said seven cases had been identified: two laboratory-confirmed hantavirus infections and five suspected cases. The agency said there had been three deaths, one critically ill patient and three people with mild symptoms. Illness onset was reported between April 6 and April 28, with symptoms including fever, gastrointestinal illness, rapid progression to pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome and shock.

South Africa’s health ministry confirmed the Andes strain in at least one patient. That matters because the Andes strain is the only hantavirus known to spread from person to person, though very rarely and typically through very close contact. WHO said the risk to the global population remained low, but its experts said human-to-human spread on the ship could not be ruled out and may have occurred among close contacts such as cabin-sharing couples.

The uncertainty has put a premium on tracing where passengers and crew have gone since leaving the ship. Swiss authorities confirmed a case in a man who had returned home and was hospitalized in Zurich after responding to an email from the ship operator. The U.K. Health Security Agency said two other people who had returned to Britain were advised to self-isolate and reported no symptoms. Officials have also said two or three additional people had already been evacuated for treatment, including a critically ill British national and a patient transferred to the Netherlands.

Spain has become the main staging point for the response. After initial resistance from the Canary Islands, Madrid said the ship would be allowed to dock at Granadilla on Tenerife, arguing that Cape Verde could not receive all 147 people and that the island had the necessary medical capacity. The Spanish Ministry of Health said health screening, isolation and repatriation plans were in place, while interior ministry sources said passenger evacuations would begin on May 11. Oceanwide Expeditions, the ship’s operator, said two crew members required urgent medical care and confirmed the vessel had left Cape Verde and was heading toward Tenerife for further inspection and the return of passengers.