Three passengers suspected of having hantavirus were evacuated from the MV Hondius cruise ship on Wednesday and transported to hospitals in the Netherlands, as Swiss authorities also confirmed a new case of the rare virus linked to the same vessel.
The three evacuated passengers include German, Dutch, and British nationals, with the British individual being a crew member.
Cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions said that a medical aircraft carrying two of the patients landed in the Netherlands, while a second aircraft transporting the third patient experienced a delay; that passenger remained in stable condition, according to The Guardian.
Swiss health authorities announced that a man who had been aboard the MV Hondius and returned home at the end of April tested positive for the Andes strain of hantavirus after seeking medical attention in Zurich. The WHO confirmed this as a third confirmed case. Swiss officials stated there was “currently no risk to the Swiss public.”
The total number of suspected or confirmed cases has climbed to at least nine, including three deaths. Among the dead are a Dutch husband and wife, the man died aboard the ship on Apr. 11, while his wife passed away at a hospital near Johannesburg, South Africa, on Apr. 26, and a German passenger who died on board on May 2. A British passenger remains in critical but stable condition in intensive care in Johannesburg, as per CBS News.
The Andes strain, identified in multiple cases from the ship, is primarily found in Argentina and Chile and is the only known hantavirus strain capable of human-to-human transmission, though such transmission is considered rare and typically requires very close contact.
The MV Hondius departed from Ushuaia, Argentina, on Apr. 1 for a polar expedition cruise that included stops in Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, Saint Helena, and Ascension Island.
Spain’s Health Minister Monica Garcia confirmed on Wednesday that the ship would dock at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, within three days.
This decision was made despite pushback from local Canary Islands officials, who raised concerns about insufficient communication and the proximity of the port to local residents. Upon arrival, symptomatic passengers will be placed in quarantine, while asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to return to their home countries.
With no approved vaccine or specific treatment for hantavirus, doctors are relying on early supportive care and intensive care unit management to improve survival rates, according to the World Health Organization.
