Dozens of individuals are being traced after boarding a flight with a cruise ship passenger who later succumbed to a rat-borne virus. The MV Hondius has been at the center of an international health scare since Saturday following an outbreak of a rare hantavirus infection.
Although the disease is typically transmitted by rodents through urine, droppings, and saliva, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has now indicated that person-to-person transmission may have occurred aboard the luxury cruise liner.
The WHO has confirmed seven suspected cases of the virus on the vessel, which was traveling from Ushuaia in Argentina to Cape Verde in Africa. A 70-year-old passenger was the first to die, followed by his 69-year-old wife. Both were Dutch nationals. Another passenger, of German nationality, also died on board. Additionally, a 69-year-old British man was taken to Johannesburg, South Africa, where he is receiving intensive care.
The WHO announced today that it is attempting to locate individuals on a flight between the island of St Helena and Johannesburg taken by the Dutch woman, who later died from the virus. At least five people in full protective gear—white overalls, boots, and face masks—were observed disembarking from the ship into a small vessel. Footage showed the ship's decks largely deserted, with only a few people wearing medical masks moving about. The ship departed Ushuaia in southern Argentina on April 1, according to Argentine provincial authorities.
The woman had left the ship in Saint Helena with gastrointestinal symptoms on April 24 and was pronounced dead upon arrival at the emergency department of a Johannesburg hospital. The WHO stated: 'Contact tracing for passengers has been initiated.' Airlink operates one weekly flight from the island, lasting approximately four hours. South African authorities requested the airline to notify passengers to contact the health department, a representative said.
The WHO suspects hantavirus may have spread between individuals on the ship. Three suspected hantavirus cases still on the stricken vessel off Cape Verde will be evacuated shortly via the west African island nation. Once two symptomatic hantavirus sufferers and a close contact without symptoms have been successfully evacuated, the MV Hondius 'can continue its route', either to Spain's Canary Islands or the Netherlands, according to the UN health agency's Cape Verde representative, Ann Lindstrand.
According to Ms Lindstrand, an ambulance will transport the suspected infected trio from the port in the Cape Verdean capital, Praia, to the nearby airport, from which they will be evacuated by plane. While the situation is 'changing by the hour', Lindstrand said that once that 'complicated expedition' has been carried out, 'what I know now is that the boat will be able to leave sometime in the middle of the night'. Although 'the initial plan was for the boat to leave from here to the Canary Islands to the Tenerife port', the Dutch-operated cruise ship could end up back in the Netherlands instead, she added. 'There has been discussions during the day today that the boat might be sent all the way to the Netherlands,' she said.
New footage from inside the MV Hondius showed nearly 150 people mostly confined to their cabins. The luxury ship has been stranded at the Port of Praia after health authorities in Cape Verde refused to authorize its docking 'with the aim of protecting national public health'. Footage revealed the ship's decks largely empty, with only a few people in medical masks moving around. Common spaces were deserted as passengers isolated in their cabins. At least five individuals in full protective gear were seen disembarking from the ship into a small vessel.
The World Health Organization said on Monday that passengers were asked to stay in their cabins and 'limit their risk while disinfection and other measures are being taken'. Speaking on social media, a Turkish passenger on the ship reported that his 'Irish friend' was receiving treatment in South Africa, but fortunately, his condition was 'improving'.
In its latest update, cruise firm Oceanwide Expeditions said on Monday that two crew members—one British and the other Dutch—were continuing to show 'acute respiratory symptoms', one mild and one severe, requiring urgent medical care. The infected British crew member is the ship's doctor, according to passenger Ann Lane from Donnybrook, south Dublin. 'Now the ship's doctor and a member of the expedition staff are sick on board. The doctor had been treating everybody day and night, really dedicated to what he was doing – [he has been] fabulous,' she told the Irish Times. 'He's a younger man, British. He has been sick quite a few days, maybe since last Thursday.'
Medics are scrambling to evacuate the sick passengers with two specialized aircraft, but an 'accurate timeline of this complex operation is currently unknown' and the mission remains 'not confirmed and is subject to change'. Meanwhile, 'a definitive disembarkation point for the remaining guests on board has not been finalised', the statement said, leaving 149 people from 23 countries anxiously waiting to learn their fate.
According to the UK Government's hantavirus advice, symptoms typically appear anywhere from two to four weeks, but can range from two days to eight weeks after exposure, meaning illness may develop in other passengers in the coming days or weeks. Around 40 per cent of cases result in death, according to the US Centers for Disease Control. Hantaviruses—a family of viruses—are spread by rodents, particularly through contact with their urine, droppings, and saliva. They are known to cause diseases ranging from mild flu-like illness to severe respiratory illness or haemorrhagic disease. Early symptoms can include fatigue, fever, muscle aches, and intense headaches. They are not usually spread person-to-person and are typically only transferred via bodily fluids and close contact. The risk of contracting the illness can be reduced by minimizing contact with rodents.
Meanwhile, the UK Government is putting 'plans in place' for the onward travel of Britons stuck aboard the cruise ship, the Prime Minister said. In a post on X, Sir Keir Starmer explained: 'My thoughts are with those affected by the hantavirus outbreak onboard the MV Hondius. We are working closely with international partners to support British nationals on board and we're putting plans in place for their safe onward travel. The risk to the wider public remains very low – protecting the British people is our number one priority.'
