Author: Olivia Le Poidevin and Charlotte Van Campenhout
GENEVA/AMSTERDAM, May 5 (Reuters) – The World Health Organization said on Tuesday it suspected seven confirmed or suspected cases of hantavirus on a luxury cruise ship, with rare human-to-human transmission among close contacts on board.
A Dutch couple and a German citizen died, and a British citizen was evacuated from the ship and is in intensive care in South Africa, officials said. Three other suspected cases affected people still on board, including one who had a mild fever.
The U.N. health agency said its working hypothesis is that the initial cases, in which the couple boarded the ship in Argentina, were infected on the ship, possibly while engaging in activities such as bird watching, and that person-to-person transmission may have occurred on the ship.
The cruise ship hit by the deadly outbreak was stuck near the West African Atlantic island nation of Cape Verde and passengers were not allowed to disembark.
The World Health Organization said the focus was now on evacuating the ship’s two sick passengers to the Netherlands and then allowing the ship to continue its journey to the Canary Islands.
Risk is low, but transmission does occur
Human-to-human transmission is uncommon, and the World Health Organization reiterated that the risk to the wider public is low from the disease, which is typically spread by infected rodents and rarely spreads from person to person. People usually become infected with hantavirus through contact with infected rodents or their urine, feces, or saliva.
However, limited transmission among close contacts has been observed in some previous outbreaks of the Andean strain, which the World Health Organization believes may be involved in this event.
“We do believe that there may be some human-to-human transmission between really close contacts, husbands and wives, people sharing cabins,” Maria Van Kerkhove, director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention at the World Health Organization, told reporters in Geneva.
“Some of the people on the ship were couples and they shared a room, so it was very close contact,” Van Kerkhove said.
Van Kerkhove said the agency’s working hypothesis is that the hantavirus on the ship is an Andes virus, which is circulating in South America, including Argentina, and that testing is underway. The Hondius left Ushuaia in southern Argentina in March.
Van Kerkhove said anyone showing symptoms on the ship and those caring for patients are wearing full personal protective equipment, and additional supplies have been brought to the ship.
Disinfection work is underway on the ship. The World Health Organization said it had been informed there were no rats on board.
While the World Health Organization said the ship was headed to the Canary Islands, Spain’s health ministry said no decision had been made on receiving the ship. “Based on the epidemiological data collected during the ship’s transit through Cape Verde, a decision will be made on which port of call is most appropriate,” the statement said.
Sailing starts in southern Argentina
About 150 people are trapped on the Hondius, a luxury cruise ship that sailed from the southern tip of Argentina in late March and carried mainly British, American and Spanish passengers. The cruise visited the Antarctic Peninsula as well as South Georgia and Tristan da Cunha – some of the most remote islands on Earth.
The voyage is billed as an Antarctic nature adventure, with berth prices ranging from €14,000 to €22,000 ($16,000 to $25,000).
The first passenger to die was a Dutch man who died on 11 April. Oceanwide Expeditions said his body remained on the ship until April 24 “when he disembarked in St. Helena accompanied by his wife.”
His wife had gastrointestinal symptoms when she got off the plane and her condition worsened on the flight to Johannesburg. She died after arriving at the emergency room on April 26, the World Health Organization said, adding that contact tracing of passengers on the flight was ongoing.
South African authorities have confirmed that a British patient being treated at a hospital in Johannesburg has tested positive for hantavirus. The Netherlands has confirmed that a Dutch woman who died was infected with the virus.
(Reporting by Jennifer Rigby in London, Chandni Shah in Bengaluru and Charlotte Van Campenhout in Amsterdam; Additional reporting by David Latona and Monica Naime; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Nia Williams, Andrew Heavens and Alison Williams)
