Three passengers suspected of having the deadly hantavirus aboard a cruise ship stranded off the coast of Cape Verde have been evacuated to the Netherlands, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Wednesday.
Evacuation and Medical Care
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated on social media platform X that the patients will receive medical care in Europe. The agency is collaborating with the operators of the MV Hondius cruise ship, which remains under isolation while the health of other passengers and crew is closely monitored.
“Monitoring and follow-up for passengers on board and for those who have already disembarked has been initiated in collaboration with the ship’s operators and national health authorities,” Ghebreyesus wrote Wednesday morning.
Three people have died from the virus since the outbreak began.
Ship to Sail to Canary Islands
The cruise ship, carrying nearly 150 people, is awaiting permission to set sail for Spain’s Canary Islands while it remains at Cape Verde, an island nation off West Africa in the Atlantic Ocean. The vessel departed Argentina on April 1 for an Atlantic cruise that was scheduled to include stops in Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, and other locations.
Hantavirus is a serious respiratory illness caused by contact with feces, urine, or saliva of infected rodents and can be potentially fatal. Earlier this week, it was reported that four Canadians were aboard the ship.
Virus Identified in Switzerland
A strain of the virus capable of human-to-human transmission has been identified in three cases, according to health agencies in Switzerland and South Africa. Swiss authorities reported that a man who returned from a trip to South America with his wife and was on the cruise ship at the end of April tested positive for hantavirus.
According to a social media update Wednesday, the WHO said the man responded to an email from the ship’s operator informing him of the outbreak. He went to a hospital in Zurich and is receiving care.
“In line with the International Health Regulations, WHO is working with relevant countries to support international contact tracing, to ensure that those potentially exposed are monitored and that any further disease spread is limited,” the global health agency wrote on X.
Eight Confirmed Cases
The WHO reported that as of Wednesday, there are eight hantavirus cases, three of which have been confirmed through laboratory testing. Additionally, the South African Department of Health identified two passengers on the ship who contracted the Andes strain of the virus, which is primarily found in Argentina and Chile. The South African health agency said the passengers tested positive after being removed from the ship and flown to South Africa. One patient, a man from Britain, is in intensive care, while the other was a woman who died from the virus.
