Authorities across Europe and Africa are now tracing passengers who left the ship at stops including St. Helena.
Around 40 passengers disembarked from a cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak after the first passenger died onboard, Dutch officials say.
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The passengers left the MV Hondius during a stop at the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena, according to the Dutch foreign ministry.
Among them was the wife of a 70-year-old Dutch passenger who died onboard after falling ill during the voyage. She later flew on a commercial flight to South Africa, where she collapsed and died in hospital.
The cruise operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, had previously only confirmed that the Dutch woman left the ship with her husband’s body and had not publicly acknowledged that dozens of other passengers also disembarked.
Dutch authorities did not say where the passengers who left the ship are now.
What’s happened on the MV Hondius?
Three passengers have died and eight others have been sickened by hantavirus on board the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius cruise ship, which remains marooned off the coast of Cape Verde with nearly 150 people onboard.
The ship left Argentina on 1 April on an Atlantic cruise and was scheduled to include stops in Antarctica, the Falkland Islands and other locations, though its itinerary has since changed due to the outbreak.
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said three patients with suspected hantavirus cases have been evacuated and are on their way to the Netherlands.
“At this stage, the overall public health risk remains low,” he wrote on his X account.
Meanwhile, Maria Van Kerkhove of the WHO said officials are investigating possible human-to-human transmission - something considered extremely rare - and believe the first infected person likely contracted the virus before boarding. Authorities have also said there are no rats on board.
A case linked to the ship has also been confirmed in Switzerland, while health authorities in South Africa and Switzerland have identified a strain capable of spreading between humans in rare cases.
What is hantavirus?
Hantavirus refers to a group of viruses carried by rodents, primarily transmitted to humans through inhalation of airborne particles from dried rodent droppings.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hantaviruses can cause two serious illnesses.
The first is hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which affects the lungs and can lead to severe respiratory failure. The second is haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, which affects the kidneys and can cause serious complications.
