The World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday that five confirmed infections have been identified among people connected to the cruise ship MV Hondius, as health authorities across several countries race to trace and contain the outbreak.
Three people – a Dutch couple and a German national – have died since the vessel departed Argentina last month. The first suspected case was a 70-year-old Dutchman, who suddenly fell ill on the ship with a fever, headache, abdominal pain and diarrhea, South Africa’s Health Department told CNN. He died on board on April 11.
Meanwhile, a total of 146 people from 23 different countries are still aboard the vessel under “strict precautionary measures,” operator Oceanwide Expeditions said Thursday.
While at least 30 passengers disembarked at the remote South Atlantic island of Saint Helena in late April and several critical cases were air-evacuated to Europe this week, those remaining passengers are scheduled to arrive in Spain’s Canary Islands this weekend before they are flown back to their respective home countries.
Spanish authorities said in their latest update that the ship will arrive in Tenerife around noon local time (7:00 am ET) on Sunday.
Here’s what we know about some of the countries where cruise ship passengers are either being treated for hantavirus or monitored for potential infection.
- The Netherlands: Three passengers have arrived in the Netherlands for treatment, the vessel’s operator Oceanwide Expeditions said Thursday. They are a British national, a 65-year-old German and a 41-year-old Dutch crew member. Two of the passengers are in serious condition, while the third evacuee, who the company said is not currently showing symptoms, is also receiving medical care. Separately, the Netherlands’ health institute said that three people showing symptoms after coming into contact with an infected person aboard an aircraft have been tested for the Andes variant of hantavirus, with two tests coming back negative and a third still pending. Dutch media reported that one person who went to an Amsterdam hospital for testing is a KLM airline crew member who had contact with a 69-year-old Dutch woman who died in South Africa last month. If she tests positive, she would be the first non-passenger connected to the incident to contract the virus. Dr. Bram Goorhuis, an infectious disease physician at the Amsterdam University Hospital who is treating the KLM crew member, told CNN that doctors are expecting to receive her test results later on Thursday.
- South Africa: A British national who fell sick onboard the vessel on April 27 was transferred to a private medical facility in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he remains in intensive care. He is the second confirmed hantavirus case. WHO said his condition is improving.
- Switzerland: On Wednesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said a passenger who returned to Switzerland after leaving the ship tested positive and is being treated in Zurich.
- UK: In the UK, the Health Security Agency said two British nationals who left the ship at St. Helena on April 24 are isolating at home as a precaution following possible exposure. The agency said is aware of five other British nationals who disembarked the vessel that day, including four that are still there. Contact tracing efforts are continuing for a seventh person who has not yet returned to the UK, it said.
- US: Health authorities in the United States said they are monitoring three people who previously disembarked and returned home. Officials in Georgia said two residents are under observation and have shown no symptoms, while Arizona health authorities said one individual is also asymptomatic. MedPageToday reported that other American passengers had returned to Texas and Virginia.
- Singapore: Two Singaporean residents – both men in their 60s – are self-isolating and being tested for hantavirus, the country’s Communicable Diseases Agency said Thursday. One of the men “has a runny nose but is otherwise well,” it said, while the other is asymptomatic.
- Canada: Three people in Canada are self-isolating, including two people in Ontario and one in Quebec, government authorities said Thursday. One of those people was not on the cruise but was on the same flight home as two Canadians who were aboard the vessel.
-CNN