Three more people on the Dutch cruise ship have fallen ill, one of them has been taken to a hospital in South Africa. The hantavirus is spread by rats and very rarely spreads from human to human.
A 70-year-old Dutch passenger died on arrival at St. Helena, and his 69-year-old wife died after being taken to hospital in Johannesburg, South African authorities said. A third man also died. A 69-year-old British citizen is in intensive care in a Johannesburg hospital and has been diagnosed with hantavirus infection. Two crew members on the cruise ship are also ill.
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"Local health authorities have boarded the ship to examine the individuals who are showing symptoms," the shipping company reported.
Australian virus researcher Paul Griffin told the Australian News Agency that around 150,000 to 200,000 hantavirus infections are identified worldwide each year. "It is very rare that it spreads from human to human," he stressed.
The hantavirus, which causes haemorrhagic fever, is spread through rodent urine and dry droppings.
"What we are seeing on the boat is very suspicious; there may be some kind of transmission, some kind of onward transmission," he said. "On a boat, the environment is suitable for human-to-human transmission of infections because many people are in the same area for long periods of time."
However, Griffin added that hygiene habits have improved significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic, which is why the possible hantavirus outbreak is so strange.
The Dutch-flagged ocean liner MV Hondius left Argentina three weeks ago to take passengers to the Canary Islands after Antarctica and the Falkland Islands. There are around 150 passengers and 70 crew members on board.
The cruise ship is moored off Cape Verde, off the west coast of Africa. So far, no one has been allowed to disembark.
