Three people were evacuated Wednesday from the cruise ship facing a hantavirus outbreak in the Atlantic Ocean, as Swiss health authorities confirmed another case in Zurich, in a passenger who had already left the Hondius. The ship, which has been sitting off the coast of Cape Verde but not allowed to dock, is now set to head for Spain’s Canary Islands.
The Swiss case brings the total number of suspected or confirmed cases linked to the outbreak to eight and marks the first identification of the virus in Europe. The man had responded to an email from Ocean Expeditions, the ship’s operator, and presented himself to a hospital in Switzerland, the World Health Organization said in a post on X. The WHO is working to carry out contact tracing and “ensure that those potentially exposed are monitored and that any further disease spread is limited,” it said.
On Wednesday, South African health authorities said they had identified the Andes strain of rodent-borne hantavirus in tests performed on two passengers, the Associated Press reported, and Swiss authorities said they identified the same virus in the Zurich patient.
WHO director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said overall the public health risk remains low and the agency is working with authorities in the Netherlands, Britain, Spain and Cape Verde. “Monitoring and follow-up for passengers on board and for those who have already disembarked has been initiated in collaboration with the ship’s operators and national health authorities,” he said.
Three people have died so far, and one man is in intensive care in South Africa as authorities investigate how a rare strain of hantavirus that can be transmitted between humans broke out on board. Hantaviruses are typically transmitted through contact with rodent droppings or urine, but the Andes strain found in South America has a history of person-to-person transmission.
Of the three people evacuated Wednesday, two have acute symptoms, Oceanwide Expeditions said, and a third is closely associated with the passenger who died Saturday. They are being taken to receive medical care in the Netherlands, Tedros said. One of the evacuees is believed to be the ship’s doctor.
On Wednesday the Hondius remained anchored off Cape Verde, and the operator said two infectious-disease doctors were en route from the Netherlands, to remain with the vessel when it eventually departs from Cape Verde.
Spain’s health ministry, citing a moral and legal obligation to help, saidthat the remaining passengers would continue to the Canary Islands, where they would be examined, treated and transferred to their home countries, and that they would avoid contact with the local population.
But Canary Islands President Fernando Clavijo publicly criticized the plans and accused the government of not informing him, asking why they couldn’t continue to the Netherlands, the ship’s country of origin. “I am not going to blindly jeopardize the safety of the Canary Islands population with a government that is not behaving loyally,” he said in an interview with Spanish radio station COPE.
Cape Verde authorities on Monday had denied the vessel permission to dock in the country, citing the need to protect national public health.
The polar-rated expedition ship’s Atlantic Odyssey cruise, which can last up to 42 nights and can cost about $20,000, begins in Ushuaia, Argentina, and visits some of the most remote islands in the world: Tristan da Cunha, South Georgia Island, St. Helena and Ascension, where guests can see king penguins, elephant seals and whales in the wild. Guests are also able to join and depart the cruise at various points.
Before Wednesday’s evacuations, Oceanwide Expeditions said there were 149 people on board, representing 23 nationalities.
The World Health Organization’s director for epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, Maria Van Kerkhove, said in a briefing Tuesdaythat her team is working under the assumption the first patient and his wife — both among the fatalities — were infected off the ship, either before they boarded in Argentina or on an excursion. The incubation period of the virus can range from one to six weeks.
“This was an expedition boat, and many of the people on board were doing birdwatching. They were doing … a lot of things with wildlife,” she said.
“On those islands, there are birds. Some islands have a lot of rodents; others don’t,” she said.
The company said the atmosphere on board the ship remains calm, with “passengers generally composed.” Those on board are isolating, and medical monitoring and hygiene measures are in place.
Jake Rosmarin, a travel blogger who has frequently posted updates about the trip, said in an Instagram message that other than the ill passengers, everyone on board the ship is “doing well and remains in good spirits.” He said passengers are social distancing and wearing masks, and gathering in the common areas is restricted, though people can go to the outer decks for fresh air.
“Additional medical provisions and supplies have been brought on board,” he said. “We remain hopeful that the situation will be resolved soon.”
Another passenger, Helene Goessaert, told the Associated Pressthat the atmosphere on the ship is “relatively good.”
“Naturally we all want our sick passengers to receive the necessary care as soon as possible,” she said. “You don’t get on a boat with the idea that one of your hundred fellow passengers is going to die.”
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