I was a-year-ago years old when I first learned about hantavirus, when the rodent-borne disease was confirmed as Betsy Arakawa’s cause of death after she and husband Gene Hackman were found deceased in their home. And then soon after Dr. Collins mentioned hantavirus on season one of The Pitt, and I was like “Kismet, how did you not know about this before??” (Extra embarrassing cause I live in NYC, where rodents are one of the Three Families.) The good news is, hantavirus is rare. The bad news is, though it may start out with run-of-the-mill flu symptoms, the disease can progress really quickly and become fatal. And here’s the worst news: on April 1, 150 passengers boarded the MV Hondius cruise ship in Argentina. On April 11, a man passed away, followed by his wife two weeks later. A third person died on Saturday, while four more people aboard took ill. Technically, only two of the seven cases have been definitively confirmed as hantavirus. But the ship’s crew, authorities in nearby countries, and WHO are responding with extreme caution, leaving 100+ people still aboard quarantined in the Atlantic right now.
Oceanwide Expeditions said Tuesday evening that two specialized aircraft were flying to Cape Verde to evacuate two people who need urgent medical care and one person who was traveling with a German woman who died on board Saturday. They were to be taken to the Netherlands, though exactly when that would happen was not immediately clear.
Once the medical evacuation happens, the ship plans to sail to the Canary Islands, either Gran Canaria or Tenerife, a voyage of some three days, the company said in its statement, adding that “discussions are ongoing with relevant authorities.”
…WHO said Tuesday that it’s looking at seven cases in all — three people who have died, one critically ill passenger who was previously taken off the ship, and three on board reporting mild symptoms.
Two of the cases — a woman who died and the evacuated man — tested positive for hantavirus.
A Dutch man was the first death, on April 11. His body was taken off the vessel nearly two weeks later, on the British territory of St. Helena, some 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers) off the African coast, according to South Africa’s Department of Health.
His wife traveled by plane from St. Helena to South Africa; she collapsed at a Johannesburg airport and died at a hospital on April 26, according to WHO and the South African Department of Health.
The ship sailed on to Ascension Island, an isolated Atlantic outpost about 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) to the north, where a sick British man was taken off the ship and evacuated first to Ascension Island and then to South Africa by plane. He is in intensive care in a South African hospital, according to WHO.
Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness, said the organization is investigating possible human-to-human transmission on the ship, and that officials suspect the first infected person likely contracted the virus before boarding. She said officials have been told there are no rats on board.
Officials in Argentina — where hantavirus led to 28 deaths nationwide last year, according to the health ministry — said they confirmed no passengers had symptoms when the Hondius departed. Symptoms can appear up to eight weeks after exposure, officials have said.
This is so awful; for the people who lost their lives, the man in critical condition, the people who only have mild symptoms but worry they may get worse, and also everyone else on board, passengers and crew alike, navigating this tenuous situation. And what a logistical quagmire, with the first deceased body disembarked on a remote island in the Atlantic, then his wife sets foot in South Africa before she passes, also where the person who’s critically ill is being treated. According to the Mayo Clinic, hantavirus was found only in North and South America — are these recent exposures enough of a risk that the disease may spread to a third continent? South Africa has started contact tracing, and CNN reported late last night that the evacuation of the three affected passengers left on board would take place within hours. Though Argentina denies anyone had hantavirus before boarding, WHO’s early assessment is the opposite. As for human-to-human transmission that likely happened on board, there’s only one type of hantavirus we know of that can be shared between humans. That particular strain, called the Andes virus, is found in Chile and, you guessed it, Argentina.
Note by CB: The video below is from a Turkish content creator who left the ship after the first death was announced. It includes the captain’s announcement of the death.
