A cruise ship awaits help after suspected hantavirus outbreak: NPR

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – A cruise ship with about 150 people on board waited for help off the coast of Cape Verde in the Atlantic Ocean on Monday after three passengers died and at least three others became seriously ill in a suspected outbreak of a rare hantavirus, according to the World Health Organization and the ship’s operator.

The MV Hondius, a Dutch ship that was on a week-long polar cruise from Argentina to Antarctica and several isolated islands in the South Atlantic, requested help from local health authorities after reaching the Cape Verde Islands off the West African coast. But Netherlands-based operator Oceanwide Expeditions said no one had been allowed to disembark.

Cape Verde’s health ministry said on Monday that for the time being, it would not allow the ship to dock due to public health concerns and that it would remain in open waters close to the coast.

Hantavirus is a rodent-borne disease spread by contact with rodents or their urine, saliva or droppings. The WHO says that although it is rare, hantavirus can spread between people.

It was unclear how the outbreak might have started, and WHO said it was investigating while working to coordinate the evacuation of the two ill crew members. Another sick person – a British man flown to South Africa on April 27 – tested positive for the virus, officials said. Health officials said his condition was critical and he was isolated in intensive care.

The body of one of the passengers, German, who died, remains on board, according to a statement from Oceanwide Expeditions. A 70-year-old Dutch man died on the ship on April 11 and his 69-year-old wife died in South Africa after abandoning the ship, officials said. South Africa’s health minister said his blood later tested positive for the virus, confirming two cases.

Of the remaining 87 passengers, 17 are American, 19 are from the UK and 13 are from Spain, according to Oceanwide Expeditions. Sixty-one crew members are also on board.

Cruise operator says 2 ill crew members need immediate care

Oceanwide said in its statement that the two ill crew members – one British, one Dutch – have respiratory symptoms and need immediate medical care.

Dr. Ann Lindstrand, WHO official in Cape Verde, said Cape Verde has sent a medical team of two doctors, a nurse and a laboratory specialist to the ship for three visits.

He told The Associated Press in an interview that they were planning a medical evacuation, in which passengers would be taken from the ship to the airport via ambulance.

“This has been very difficult for the Cape Verdean authorities,” Lindstrand said. “What they have to deal with is a public health incident. And of course, they’re thinking about the safety of the population here.”

Oceanwide said if it could not disembark passengers in Cape Verde it would consider diverting to one of the Spanish islands – Tenerife or the port of Las Palmas.

WHO said it was working with local authorities and Oceanwide on a “full public health risk assessment”.

“A detailed investigation is ongoing, including further laboratory testing and epidemiological investigations,” WHO said. “Medical care and assistance is being provided to the passengers and crew.”

Lindstrand told the AP there was one possible new case on the ship, with one person showing symptoms of a mild fever, but health workers were still assessing.

A view of the M/V Hondius cruise ship anchored at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, on Monday, May 4, 2026.

Erilson Almeida/AP

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Erilson Almeida/AP

The cruise started from Argentina

According to Argentine provincial authorities, the ship departed from Ushuaia in southern Argentina on April 1. Health officials there said they confirmed that none of the passengers had symptoms of hantavirus when the Hondius departed.

But since symptoms can appear up to eight weeks after exposure, “if travelers have had this disease within the country or elsewhere in the world, they can get this disease,” Juan Facundo Petrina, director of epidemiology for Tierra del Fuego province, told the AP in an interview from Ushuaia.

He said the province has not historically seen cases of hantavirus, but the infection has spread to other Argentine provinces, causing 28 deaths nationwide last year, according to the Health Ministry.

For the remainder of Hondius’ voyage, Oceanwide Expeditions did not specify any itinerary. The company advertises 33-night or 43-night “Atlantic Odyssey” cruises on the ship.

It has 80 cabins and a capacity of 170 passengers, and it usually travels with about 70 crew members, including a doctor, the company said.

The Dutch man was the first victim and suffered fever, headache, stomach pain and diarrhea, officials said. His body was disembarked about two weeks later in the British territory of St. Helena, about 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers) off the African coast, awaiting repatriation.

His wife was transferred to South Africa; The South African health department said she collapsed at Johannesburg airport and died in a hospital. On Monday, South African Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi told national broadcaster SABC that his blood was tested posthumously, which came back positive for hantavirus.

The ship proceeded to Ascension Island, an isolated Atlantic outpost about 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) to the north, where the sick British man was taken off the ship and taken to South Africa on 27 April.

South African authorities have begun contact tracing but say there is no need to panic

There was no information from officials on the possible source of the suspected outbreak. A previous hantavirus outbreak in southern Argentina in 2019 killed at least nine people. It prompted a judge to order dozens of residents of a remote town to stay in their homes for 30 days to stop the spread.

South Africa’s National Institute of Communicable Diseases was conducting contact tracing to determine whether people had come into contact with infected cruise passengers. The 69-year-old woman who died was trying to catch a flight to the Netherlands at Johannesburg’s main international airport, one of Africa’s busiest airports, when she collapsed.

But the health department urged people not to panic, saying WHO was “coordinating a multi-country response with all affected islands and countries to prevent further spread of the disease.”

There is no specific treatment or cure for hantavirus, but prompt medical attention can increase the chances of survival.

“Although it is severe in some cases, it does not transmit easily between people,” Dr. Hans Henry P. Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said in a statement on Monday. “The risk to the wider public is low. There is no need for panic or travel restrictions.”