On May 3, the World Health Organization reported that three people died and at least six others became ill on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean, suspected to be caused by hantavirus.
Hantaviruses are a group of viruses (microorganisms that infect the host) that are transmitted by mice and rats. They can cause serious and sometimes fatal illness in people. Hantavirus disease is considered rare, with 890 cases reported in the United States between 1993 and 2023.
“To date, there has been one laboratory-confirmed case of hantavirus infection and five additional suspected cases,” the organization said in a statement on X.
The outbreak was reported aboard the Dutch-flagged cruise ship MV Hondius, which was heading from Argentina to Cape Verde, an island nation off the west coast of Africa. Three of the six suspected cases have died, and one was in intensive care in South Africa, the WHO said.
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Three victims, a Dutch couple and a German, were killed, and about 150 people remained on board, with others falling ill, including a British national who was treated in South Africa after getting off the ship, Reuters reported.
What is hantavirus?
Hantaviruses are transmitted to humans primarily when mice or rats are exposed to rodent urine, feces, or saliva, but less commonly through scratches or bites. Viruses do not spread easily from person to person.
Viruses can cause:
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is a respiratory disease that can cause life-threatening heart and lung problems. Several strains can cause HPS.
Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. It is a severe and sometimes fatal disease that affects the kidneys.
There is no specific drug to treat the disease, so treatment focuses on symptomatic treatment, such as putting patients on a ventilator in severe cases.
Oceanwide Expeditions, which operates the ship, said the infection was under investigation. The company announced that a strain of hantavirus was confirmed in a passenger who was medically evacuated from the cruise ship.
Oceanwide Expeditions said in a statement that “hantavirus has not been confirmed in the two symptomatic individuals currently on board.”
The World Health Organization, which is also conducting the investigation, said the risk to the broader population was low and there was no need for panic or travel restrictions. However, Cape Verdean authorities said they were not allowing the ship to enter the port as a precaution.
Eve Chen, USA TODAY Contributor
SOURCE USA TODAY NETWORK REPORTS AND INVESTIGATIONS. Reuters; World Health Organization; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cleveland Clinic; Mayo Clinic
