Three people have died and several others are unwell following a suspected outbreak of hantavirus aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship, which is currently docked off Cape Verde. At least one case has been confirmed as hantavirus, raising concerns about human-to-human transmission.
The ship had been at sea for around three weeks when passengers began to fall ill. There are two confirmed and five suspected hantavirus cases among the 147 passengers and crew members on board. The first patient fell ill within the first week of the cruise and died shortly after.
Globally, an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 hantavirus infections occur each year, mostly in Asia. Hantaviruses are typically linked to rodent exposure and not transmissible from person to person except in extremely rare circumstances. However, the Andes virus has been implicated in such rare transmissions.
Key facts:
- Three deaths reported due to suspected hantavirus outbreak.
- One confirmed hantavirus case among passengers.
- Five suspected cases under investigation.
- The incubation period for hantavirus can range from one to eight weeks.
Health officials are conducting an epidemiological investigation into the outbreak. Maria Van Kerkhove from the World Health Organization stated, “We do believe that there may be some human-to-human transmission that’s happening among the really close contacts.” This suggests a need for careful monitoring of those who had direct contact with infected individuals.
Currently, there is no widely available vaccine against hantavirus. Health officials state that the risk beyond those directly affected remains low. Yet, it is unclear how many more cases may emerge due to the long incubation period associated with this virus.
The MV Hondius will eventually move to the Canary Islands for further investigation. Officials continue to assess the situation as they work on a public health response to this unusual outbreak.
