Cruise Ship Stricken by Hantavirus Orphaned in Atlantic Ocean as Canary Islands Leader Objects to Its Docking

Disease specialists are scrambling to respond to a cruise ship with an outbreak of hantavirus, kicking off a battle over where the ship can dock as health officials say the strain aboard is the only known type of the contagion that can spread person-to-person. Passengers boarded the HV Hondius more than a month ago, planning to visit some of the world’s most remote islands. The ship departed Argentina on April 1, and just five days later, passengers began to fall ill. Since April 11, three passengers have died, two of whom had positive test results for hantavirus, which has an incubation period of up to roughly six weeks. At least five other passengers have fallen ill and are exhibiting symptoms of the virus. On Wednesday, the head of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said three passengers were evacuated from the ship to receive medical care in the Netherlands, where the ship’s owner, Oceanwide Expeditions, is based. The organization says it is treating the situation as a suspected hantavirus outbreak. “At this stage, the overall public health risk remains low,” he said. Oceanwide Expeditions said the Hondius’s next destination is the Canary Islands though it is “unable to confirm the details of onward travel for guests at this stage.”“Oceanwide Expeditions remains in close and continual discussion with relevant authorities regarding the exact point of arrival, quarantine and screening procedures for all guests, and a precise timeline,” the company said Wednesday.Hantavirus is typically carried by rodents and is shed in their urine, droppings, and saliva. It is usually spread when dried particles are swept into the air, through someone sweeping, for example. The versions of the virus found in North and South America typically have a mortality rate of between 35 percent and 40 percent, but most variants do not spread from person to person. However, one strain, the Andes Virus, found in Argentina and Chile, can be spread from person to person after prolonged contact. The National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa said the confirmed cases of the virus on the Hondius involve the Andes variant. The World Health Organization’s chief of Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, told reporters that because the incubation period for the virus can be “anywhere from one to six weeks,” officials believe the initial patients “were infected off the ship.”She added that the ship stopped at islands near Africa that “have a lot of rodents.”“There could be some source of infection on the islands as well for some of the other suspect cases,” she said. “However, we do believe that there may be some human-to-human transmission that’s happening among the really close contacts.”Earlier this week, the Hondius was denied permission to dock at Praia, a port in Cape Verde. The Hondius then set sail to dock at Spain’s Canary Islands. The head of the regional government, Fernando Clavijo, however, has expressed opposition to letting the ship dock there.”“There is no information that justifies why the vessel must sail for three days to the Canary Islands to carry out a task that could be done from Praia,” he said.Despite the regional government’s resistance, Spain’s Health Ministry says it has a “moral and legal obligation to assist these people, among whom are also several Spanish citizens.”Spain’s national government can overrule officials in the Canary Islands. Amid concerns about the outbreak on the ship, authorities in Switzerland on Wednesday said that a man who left the Hondius and returned home last month had tested positive for hantavirus. The patient went to a hospital at Zurich after the operator of the Hondius sent an email to passengers about the virus. Despite concerns about a potential outbreak in Europe, Swiss authorities said there is “currently no risk to the Swiss public.”Swiss officials said they are trying to trace his contacts.

Cruise Ship Stricken by Hantavirus Orphaned in Atlantic Ocean as Canary Islands Leader Objects to Its Docking

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