The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday that the risk posed by hantavirus to the general public remains low, after three people died and three fell ill on a Dutch cruise ship suspected to have contracted the rodent-borne virus.
“The risk to the general public remains low. There is no need for panic or travel restrictions,” WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Henri P. Kluge said in a statement.
A Dutch tourism company announced that a “serious medical situation” had occurred aboard the polar expedition ship MV Hondius, which is off the coast of Cape Verde, an island nation in the Atlantic Ocean west of the African continent.
The cruise ship set sail from Argentina about three weeks ago with about 150 passengers and stopped in Antarctica and other locations en route to Cape Verde, according to media reports.
A spokesman for the Dutch Foreign Ministry confirmed that two Dutch passengers had died, without giving further details.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said in a post on X that one of the sick passengers was in intensive care in South Africa. Sky News reported that the passenger was a British citizen, citing the South African Ministry of Health.
The WHO said it was investigating the outbreak.
Laboratory tests confirmed that one of the six sick people was infected with hantavirus, the agency said.
Oceanwide Expeditions said that Cape Verdean authorities had not allowed passengers in need of medical care to disembark, and that Dutch authorities were trying to arrange the repatriation of two passengers with symptoms of the disease and the body of one of the deceased.
Hantavirus is spread when particles of rodent urine and feces contaminate the air, for example after sweeping areas where mice have been living. The WHO notes that the virus is only rarely spread through human contact.
The disease begins with flu-like symptoms that can lead to heart and lung failure, with about 40 percent of cases ending in death, Reuters noted, citing data from the US Centers for Disease Control.
There are no specific drugs for hantavirus, so therapy is focused on supportive care, including ventilators in severe cases.
