Three people have died and at least three others have fallen ill in a suspected hantavirus outbreak aboard an Atlantic Ocean cruise ship, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed in a statement to the Associated Press on Sunday.
As investigations into the incident continue, global health officials have already verified at least one positive case of the rodent-borne pathogen. Hantavirus, which is distributed across every inhabited continent, is primarily transmitted to humans through direct contact with urine or feces from infected rodents, most commonly common rats and mice. While human-to-human transmission is rare, the virus is capable of spreading between people and can trigger life-threatening respiratory illness if left unaddressed.
According to the United Nations’ health agency, one affected patient is currently receiving intensive care at a hospital in South Africa. Teams are collaborating with national and local authorities to evacuate two other symptomatic passengers from the vessel to receive appropriate medical care.
“Detailed investigations are ongoing, including further laboratory testing, full epidemiological mapping, and genetic sequencing of the virus to confirm its origin and strain,” the WHO said in its official statement. “Medical care and support are being provided to all affected passengers and crew members currently on the ship.”
Unlike many common viral illnesses, hantavirus infection has no specific targeted treatment or approved cure. However, WHO notes that prompt, early clinical intervention drastically improves a patient’s odds of survival.
While the WHO declined to publicly name the vessel in its initial statement, local South African media outlets have identified the ship as the MV Hondius, a passenger cruise liner sailing from Argentina to Cape Verde off the western coast of Africa. Global shipping tracking platform MarineTraffic confirmed the vessel is a Dutch-flagged cruise ship, and showed it docked in Praia, Cape Verde’s capital, on Sunday evening.
South African health department spokesperson Foster Mohale, quoted in local reporting, shared additional details on the fatalities: the first victim, an elderly male passenger, died directly on board the ship, while his wife later succumbed to the infection after being admitted to a South African hospital.
This recent outbreak marks a return of hantavirus to public attention, just over a year after Betsy Arakawa, wife of legendary late actor Gene Hackman, died from a hantavirus infection in New Mexico. Hackman passed away one week after his wife’s death at their shared home.