Cape Town, South Africa — a suspected outbreak of rare hantavirus infection Three people, including an elderly married couple, have died, and at least three others have fallen ill on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean World Health Organization And South African The Health Department gave this information on Sunday.
In a statement to The Associated Press, WHO said the investigation was ongoing but at least one case of hantavirus had been confirmed. The UN health agency said one of the patients was in intensive care in a South African hospital, and it was working with authorities to evacuate two other people with symptoms from the ship.
The Dutch company operating the cruise said the ship is now anchored off the coast Cape VerdeAn island nation off the west coast of Africa, and local officials were assisting, but did not allow anyone to disembark. It said the two sick people on board the ship who required immediate medical care were crew members.
Hantaviruses, which are found throughout the world, are a family of viruses that spread primarily through contact with the urine or feces of infected rodents, such as rats and mice. He gained attention after the late actor Gene Hackman’s Wife, Betsy Arakawa, died from hantavirus infection Last year in New Mexico.
Hackman died of heart disease at his home about a week later.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hantaviruses cause two serious syndromes: hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a serious illness that affects the lungs, and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, a serious illness that affects the kidneys.
Although rare, WHO said hantavirus infection can spread between people. There is no specific treatment or cure, but prompt medical attention can increase the chances of survival.
“WHO is aware of and is supporting a public health event involving a cruise ship sailing in the Atlantic Ocean,” the organization said. “A detailed investigation is ongoing, including further laboratory testing and epidemiological investigation. Passengers and crew are being provided medical care and support. Sequencing of the virus is also ongoing.”
South Africa’s health department said the ship, the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius, had gone argentina About three weeks ago for a cruise that included visits to Antarctica, the Falkland Islands and other stops. Ultimately it was to head to Spain’s Canary Islands on the other side of the Atlantic.
The first victim was a 70-year-old man who died on board the ship and whose body was recovered from the British territory of St. Helena in the South Atlantic, the South African health department said in a statement. The man’s wife fainted at an airport in South Africa while trying to board a flight to her home country, the Netherlands, the department said. He died in a nearby hospital.
The department identified the patient in intensive care at a hospital in Johannesburg as a British national. It said the man fell ill near Ascension Island, another remote island in the Atlantic, after the ship departed St. Helena and transferred to South Africa.
South Africa’s health department said there were about 150 tourists on board the ship at the time of the outbreak. Several online tour operators said the Hondius, described as a specialist polar cruise ship, typically travels with about 70 crew members.
Oceanwide Expeditions, the company running the cruise, said the body of the third victim was still on board the ship in Cape Verde and that its priority was to ensure that the two crew members who were ill received medical care.
“Local health authorities have visited the ship to assess the condition of the two symptomatic individuals,” the company said. “They have not yet made any decisions regarding the transfer of these individuals to medical care in Cape Verde.”
WHO said it was working with national authorities and ship operators to conduct a “full public health risk assessment” and provide assistance to those still on board the ship.
South Africa’s National Institute of Communicable Diseases, meanwhile, was conducting contact tracing in the Johannesburg area to determine whether other people had come into contact with infected travelers in South Africa.
