Two people have died and a third remains in intensive care following an outbreak of severe acute respiratory illness, Hantavirus, aboard a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean, South Africa’s health ministry confirmed on Sunday.
The outbreak occurred on the MV Hondius, a polar cruise ship operated by Dutch-based tour company Oceanwide Expeditions, which was travelling from Ushuaia in Argentina to Cape Verde.
A patient being treated in Johannesburg tested positive for a hantavirus, a family of viruses that can cause haemorrhagic fever, according to health ministry spokesperson Foster Mohale. Hantaviruses are spread by rodents, particularly through contact with their urine, droppings and saliva, according to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The first person to develop symptoms was a passenger (70), who died on board the vessel. His body is currently on the island of Saint Helena, a British territory in the South Atlantic, Mohale said.
His wife (69) also fell ill on board and was evacuated to South Africa, where she died in a Johannesburg hospital. The victims’ nationality has not yet been confirmed.
A third case, a British man (69), was also evacuated to Johannesburg, where he was being treated in intensive care.
The World Health Organization said it was aware of the cases and that investigations and a coordinated international public health response were underway.
“We will share more information as it becomes available,” a WHO spokesperson told AFP in Geneva.
According to several travel agency websites, the MV Hondius offers itineraries departing from Ushuaia for Cape Verde, with stops in the islands of South Georgia and Saint Helena. The vessel can accommodate around 170 passengers and has some 70 crew members.
Online ship-tracking sites showed the MV Hondius was off the port of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, on Sunday.
