Newsroom
Health authorities across Europe are keeping a close eye on a rare virus outbreak linked to a cruise ship after three passengers died and several others became sick during the voyage.
The outbreak happened aboard the MV Hondius, a cruise ship that had been traveling through the South Atlantic and Antarctica.
The latest confirmed case involves a Swiss passenger who tested positive for hantavirus after returning home from the cruise. Swiss officials said the man developed symptoms, sought medical care, and was immediately isolated. His wife, who also traveled on the ship, is staying in isolation as a precaution but has not shown symptoms.
What is making health officials especially cautious is that the case appears to involve the Andes strain of hantavirus, a rare version that can, in uncommon cases, spread from one person to another through close contact.
Most hantavirus infections are normally linked to contact with rodent urine or droppings and do not spread easily between humans.
French media also reported that a French man who was not on the cruise ship became infected after sitting on a flight with one of the ship’s passengers. If confirmed, this would be the first known case connected to the outbreak involving someone who was not onboard the vessel itself.
Health officials are still carrying out tests to determine whether that case also involves the Andes strain.
The World Health Organization said the overall public health risk remains low and stressed that human-to-human transmission of this virus is rare and usually requires close, prolonged contact.
Three additional suspected cases, two crew members and one passenger, were removed from the ship and are being transferred to the Netherlands for treatment, according to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The ship remains off the coast of Cape Verde while health authorities continue investigations. Two infectious disease specialists from the Netherlands are also being sent to the vessel, according to cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions.
The cruise originally departed from Argentina in April before the outbreak disrupted the trip.
Authorities in several countries are now tracing passengers and monitoring people who may have come into contact with those infected.
For Cyprus and the rest of Europe, officials say there is currently no reason for alarm. No cases linked to the outbreak have been reported in Cyprus, and experts emphasize that hantavirus is far less contagious than illnesses such as COVID-19 or the flu.
