Hantavirus cases now suspected in 5 countries as authorities scramble to contain outbreak

By Kara Fox, CNN

(CNN) — The World Health Organization said Thursday that eight hantavirus cases – including three confirmed infections and five suspected cases – have been identified among people connected to the cruise ship MV Hondius, as health authorities across several countries race to trace and contain the outbreak.

The vessel carrying remaining passengers is traveling toward Spain’s Canary Islands, where its arrival is drawing heightened scrutiny.

Two passengers in serious condition who were evacuated from the ship have arrived in the Netherlands for treatment, the vessel’s operator Oceanwide Expeditions said Thursday. A third evacuee, who the company said is not currently showing symptoms, is also receiving medical care there.

The evacuated passengers are a British national, a 65-year-old German and a 41-year-old Dutch crew member.

Three people – a Dutch couple and a German national – have died since the vessel departed Argentina last month.

A Dutch government spokesperson told CNN Thursday that a woman had gone to a Amsterdam hospital for testing after possible exposure linked to the ship. Dutch media reported she is a KLM airline crew member who had contact with a 69-year-old Dutch woman who died in South Africa last month.

The outbreak has been linked to the Andes strain of hantavirus, a rare but potentially severe virus that in some cases can spread between humans through close contact.

South African health authorities said laboratory testing identified the Andes strain in two confirmed cases linked to the vessel, Reuters reported, with contact tracing ongoing.

On Wednesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said a passenger who returned to Switzerland after leaving the ship tested positive and is being treated in Zurich.

“The patient had responded to an email from the ship’s operator informing passengers of the health event,” he said.

In the UK, the Health Security Agency said two British nationals who left the ship earlier in the voyage are isolating at home as a precaution following possible exposure.

Meanwhile, health authorities in the United States said they are monitoring three people who previously disembarked and returned home. Officials in Georgia said two residents are under observation and have shown no symptoms, while Arizona health authorities said one individual is also asymptomatic. MedPageToday reported that other American passengers had returned to Texas and Virginia.

The situation has captured international attention as passengers have disembarked and dispersed across multiple countries before the outbreak was fully understood, prompting some to draw comparisons to the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. Health officials, however, have stressed that there is no evidence of a widespread transmission risk.

The WHO said in a post to social media that it is “working with relevant countries to support international contact tracing, to ensure that those potentially exposed are monitored and that any further disease spread is limited.”

Meanwhile, Spain’s Canary Islands are preparing to receive the remaining passengers from the MV Hondius this weekend.

After port workers on the island of Tenerife warned they had not been given clear guidance on how the vessel will be handled or what protections will be in place, Canary Islands authorities on Thursday said that the ship will anchor offshore rather than docking at port. Passengers will be ferried to a secured area of the port before transfered directly to the airport for repatriation, according to President Fernando Clavijo and Health Minister Mónica García.

The ship will arrive in Tenerife on Sunday, García said.

CNN’s Pau Mosquera, Brenda Goodman and Vasco Cotovio contributed reporting.

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