A Deadly Virus on a Cruise Ship: What We Know About the Hantavirus Outbreak

A luxury cruise sailing off the coast of West Africa has become the scene of a rare and tragic health crisis. Eight cases of hantavirus have been confirmed aboard the MV Hondius, a Dutch-flagged vessel, and three of those people have died. The ship, which departed from Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1, still carries 147 passengers and crew who have shown no symptoms and are confined to their cabins as a precaution. The vessel left Cape Verde on the evening of May 6 for a three-to-four-day journey to the Canary Islands, where Spanish authorities have agreed to help.

As the ship makes its way, experts from the World Health Organization are developing a new protocol to safely disembark everyone on board. Meanwhile, health officials are tracking down 30 passengers who left the ship on the remote island of St. Helena on April 24—two weeks after the first death occurred on April 11, but before the outbreak was detected. Those former passengers come from at least a dozen countries, including six from the United States.

The situation has stirred uneasy memories of the Diamond Princess COVID-19 outbreak, where hundreds were infected while quarantined on a cruise ship in Japan. But health officials stress that the risk to the general public remains extremely low. While the outbreak on the Hondius demands an urgent and careful response, experts say the virus is unlikely to spread widely beyond the ship. The focus now is on containing the illness and getting everyone home safely.