Hantavirus outbreak: Three dead, 150 stranded on luxury ship in the sea
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Three people were reported dead and some others infected, while nearly 150 remain stranded on the MV Hondius that is currently off the coast of West Africa, the media reported on Tuesday.
Some human-to-human transmission may have occurred on board the cruise ship hit by the virus outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.
“We do know that some of the cases had very close contact with each other and certainly human-to-human transmission can’t be ruled out so, as a precaution, this is what we are assuming,” Dr. Maria Van Kerhove, WHO’s Director for Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention, told reporters.
“The risk to the general public is low,” she emphasized. “This is not a virus that spreads like flu or like COVID. It’s quite different.”
So far, seven cases were confirmed or suspected on the stranded cruise ship. They included the three people who had died, one who tested positive and was critically ill, and three with mild symptoms, the WHO said in a statement.
Around 150 people from across 23 countries, including passengers and crew members, are still stuck onboard the MV Hondius, a Dutch-flagged cruise ship. It was carrying mostly British, American and Spanish passengers on a trip that set off from Argentina in March and is now off the coast of West Africa.
It is currently stationary off the coast of Cape Verde, an island nation in the Atlantic off the coast of West Africa—although public health authorities have not given it permission to dock or evacuate the sick crew members.
Two of the sick individuals on board are both crew members with “acute respiratory symptoms,” cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions said on Monday, and both require “urgent medical care.”
It said it was considering sailing to Las Palmas or Tenerife, both in Spain’s Canary Islands, where “further medical screening and handling could take place.”
Hantaviruses
These are a family of zoonotic viruses mainly carried by rodents such as rats and mice. Humans may contract the virus if they are exposed to rodent droppings, urine or saliva.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in rare instances, the virus can also spread through rodent bites or scratches.
The WHO noted that hantavirus spreading between humans is also rare. It is unclear how the people on board the ship contracted the virus. The virus can trigger Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, a form of severe respiratory illness that has a high mortality rate of around 38 per cent, according to the CDC.
