An Atlantic cruise with nearly 150 passengers onboard is suffering from an outbreak of hantavirus, a respiratory disease with a mortality rate of up to 50%. Health authorities in several countries are tracking down dozens of passengers who had left the ship before virus cases were confirmed.
Since the Dutch-flagged Hondius departed Argentina last month for the African nation of Cape Verde, three passengers have died and five others have fallen ill, with at least five cases confirmed via lab testing. Thirty passengers from 12 countries disembarked at the island of Saint Helena and flew home last month. Authorities are now attempting to locate them.
This isn’t Covid 2.0…as health experts assure that the risk of a hantavirus pandemic is low, since it doesn’t spread easily between humans and isn’t as mutation-prone as Covid.
How does one get sick?
People typically contract hantavirus by coming into contact with rodent droppings or inhaling contaminated particles. But Hondius passengers could have been transmitting it to each other:
- Some passengers tested positive for the rare Andes version of the virus—the only hantavirus strain for which human-to-human transmission is known to be possible.
- People can pass the Andes variant to each other through close physical contact or by sharing utensils.
- The virus’s flu-like symptoms can appear one to eight weeks after exposure.
There are currently no targeted treatments for the disease, and no FDA-approved vaccines, though research efforts are underway to develop one.
It’s a bad look for cruises. The outbreak is reminding vacationers right at the start of summer travel season that cruise ships can act as floating petri dishes for communicable diseases, with their buffet-style dining and passengers rubbing shoulders at the blackjack table mingling in close quarters. The vacation vessels were major hot spots for Covid in the early days of the pandemic and are also common sites of norovirus outbreaks.
Looking ahead: Hondius is now being diverted to the Canary Islands with plans to send the passengers back to their home countries.—SK
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