Second hantavirus case confirmed after three die in suspected cruise ship outbreak

BBC:

Two cases of hantavirus have been confirmed after three people died and a UK national was left seriously ill following a suspected outbreak on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

The operator of the MV Hondius ship, Oceanwide Expeditions, said a Dutch husband and wife, as well as a German national, had died.

Hantavirus has been confirmed in the case of the 69-year-old UK national who is in intensive care in a hospital in South Africa, and was present in the Dutch woman who died. The causes of the deaths of the other passengers are being investigated.

Hantavirus is usually spread from rodents via their faeces, saliva or urine. It can cause severe respiratory illness.

It is rarely transmitted between people.

As well as the two confirmed cases of hantavirus, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it was investigating a further five suspected cases linked to the cruise ship.

The MV Hondius vessel is currently off the coast of Cape Verde and has 149 people onboard from 23 countries.

“The atmosphere on board MV Hondius remains calm, with passengers generally composed,” Oceanwide Expeditions said.

It added there are two crew members on board “with acute respiratory symptoms, one mild and one severe”, but hantavirus had not been confirmed in the pair.

They were of British and Dutch nationality and both required urgent medical care, it said. No other people aboard have shown symptoms.

Dutch authorities are “actively preparing” for a medical evacuation of the two crew members, as well as a person “associated” with the German national who died, Oceanwide Expeditions said.

“This will involve two specialised aircraft equipped with the necessary medical equipment and staffed by trained medical crews,” it said.

Negotiations are in progress with local authorities following what Oceanwide Expeditions described as “a serious medical situation”.