Health officials across the globe are racing to track passengers of the luxury cruise ship hit by the deadly hantavirus and their immediate contacts.
A Dutch couple and a German national died after the outbreak on board MV Hondius. Four other people have been confirmed infected – two Britons, one Dutch, and one Swiss national – and are being treated in hospitals in the Netherlands, South Africa, and Switzerland. A fifth case is suspected, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The WHO said it is in contact with authorities in at least 12 countries monitoring passengers and close contacts who have since returned home. Those countries include Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK, and the U.S.
About 150 passengers and crew from 28 countries are believed to have been on board initially, although dozens disembarked on the island of St Helena on 24 April.
The cruise, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, departed from Ushuaia, Argentina, on 1 April and is due to arrive in Spain’s Canary Islands on 10 May.
Hantavirus usually spreads through contact with rodents, but can rarely pass from person to person through close contact.
The UN health agency said the outbreak is not comparable to the start of the Covid-19 pandemic six years ago because this strain of hantavirus spreads only through “close, intimate contact”.
