WHO confirm five cases of hantavirus and warns of more infections

The MV Hondius cruise ship has been hit by a rare hantavirus outbreak which is believed to have killed three people so far.

The ship is sailing from Cape Verde towards the Spanish island of Tenerife where isolating passengers and crew will be finally be evacuated.

Watch our explainer on how the virus on board the ship has developed into a global health scare.

Here is what we know so far about the situation on the Hondius, which has sparked international alarm since news of the outbreak emerged last weekend.

• Who is on board?

There are 149 people from 23 different nationalities on the MV Hondius, the ship’s Dutch operator Oceanwide Expeditions told AFP on Thursday.

There are more than 80 passengers, with the largest groups from Britain, the United States and Spain. Most of the crew are from the Philippines.

Following Wednesday’s evacuation of three suspected cases, the ship operator said Thursday “no symptomatic individuals are present on board”.

• Three deaths

A Dutch couple who had travelled around South America before boarding the ship in Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1 were the first fatalities.

The husband, 70, showed symptoms on April 6 and died on April 11. His body was taken off the ship during its April 22-24 call at Saint Helena, an island in the south Atlantic.

His 69-year-old wife, who was feeling unwell, also left the ship at Saint Helena. Her health deteriorated during an April 25 flight to Johannesburg and she died in hospital a day later, with hantavirus confirmed on May 4.

A German passenger who developed a fever on April 28, which became pneumonia, died on May 2. Her body remains on the ship.

The rare disease is usually spread from infected rodents, typically through urine, droppings and saliva.

Laboratory testing in South Africa and Switzerland confirmed the two patients being treated in those countries had the Andes strain of hantavirus – the only one known to pass between humans.

There are no vaccines or specific treatments for hantavirus.

• The journey

The cruise began on April 1, with 114 guests boarding at Ushuaia, Oceanwide Expeditions said.

After South Georgia, Tristan da Cunha and other Atlantic islands, the vessel called at Saint Helena, where 30 guests disembarked on April 24.

The Hondius then stopped at Ascension Island on April 27, before anchoring off Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, from Sunday until it set sail for the Canaries late Wednesday.

Spain’s health ministry has said the ship is expected in Tenerife on Sunday, with evacuation of passengers set to start on May 11.

• What is happening on board

The WHO said passengers were being asked to isolate in their cabins while disinfection and other measures are being taken.

A former passenger told AFP that life carried on as usual aboard the ship after the captain announced the first passenger’s death.

‘We again kept eating all together… and we didn’t wear any masks,’ said Turkish national Ruhi Cenet, who left the cruise in Saint Helena.

Hantavirus is much less transmissible than Covid, a doctor treating a patient following the cruise ship outbreak has said.

In an interview with AFPTV, Karin Ellen Veldkamp, head of infectious diseases at a Dutch hospital, said her unit was ready to receive more patients if required.

Asked about fears the hantavirus could be the new Covid, Veldkamp said: ‘No, it is not like that. It is not easily transmissible from person to person.’

‘We know (person-to-person transmission) is possible and we suspect that has happened on the boat… but it is not like Covid, (transmission) is much more difficult’.

Veldkamp declined to give precise details about the patient that arrived at her hospital on Wednesday, but said the hospital was well equipped for such cases.

Patients are kept in an isolation room, cared for by well-trained staff and strict disease control protocols, she explained.

See our Hantavirus explainer below:

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO), said experts from WHO and the European Centre for Disease Control have joined the MV Hondius in Cape Verde and will stay aboard until it reaches the Canary Islands.

He also told a press briefing that morale has improved on board since the ship left Cape Verde.

I would also like to thank the ship’s operator for its co-operation, and the passengers and crew who are going through a very difficult and frightening situation.

I’ve been in touch with the ship’s captain regularly, including this morning. He told me morale has improved significantly since the ship started moving again.

Concerns have been raised about 29 passengers who disembarked from the MV Hondius to return home, without realising they may have contracted hantavirus and spread it around the world.

Some 29 passengers left the luxury cruise ship on April 24 on the island of St Helena, 13 days following the first death on board, before returning to countries including the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Singapore and Denmark.

While those remaining on the vessel are following strict hygiene measures, others resumed normal life, not realising they may be carrying the rare illness.

A total of 146 people from 23 nationalities are still on board the ship, which departed Cape Verde at 6.15pm yesterday and is now heading north.

See our graphic below on how the virus has spread across the world

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is working with health authorities in South Africa to trace contacts of the two cases of hantavirus in the country, which includes one Briton who is still in intensive care there.

Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, director of the department of epidemic and pandemic threat management at the WHO, said there had been two confirmed cases in South Africa.

One was the second case that was identified, the contact the wife of the first case, who sadly passed away. And then there is another case that is currently in ICU in South Africa, and this person is doing better as we understand.

She said authorities in South Africa are ‘taking the lead’ on contact tracing.

Not only have they identified the passengers and are following up from the flight, but they’re also following up any contacts for people who attended to the woman who passed away, who went through the airport, people medically caring for the man who is in ICU.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

The UK was the first to sound the alarm about the hantavirus outbreak, the director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the UK acted following a ‘cluster of passengers with severe respiratory illness’.

In an update, he said eight cases have been reported with five confirmed to be hantavirus, while the other three remain suspected.

He said that it is possible that more cases may be identified given the incubation period of the virus.

He said:

Given the incubation period of the Andes Virus, which can be up to six weeks, it’s possible that more cases may be reported. While this is a serious incident, WHO assesses the public health risk low.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the hantavirus crisis following an outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship.

This afternoon, the World Health Organization is providing an update on the virus which has seen eight cases reported with three of those resulting in deaths.

But as fears grows health officials say the outbreak is not expected to be an epidemic.

Dr Abdirahman Mahamud, director at the alert and response co-ordination department of the World Health Organisation’s Emergencies Health Programme, highlighted a similar outbreak in Argentina in 2018/19 which led to 34 cases.

He said:

If we follow public health measures, and the lessons we learned from Argentina are shared across all countries… we can break this chain of transmission and this doesn’t need to be a large epidemic.

He later added:

We don’t anticipate a large epidemic. With experience our member states have, and the actions they have taken, we believe that this will not lead to subsequent chain of transmission.

Stick with us for the latest updates on this developing story.