Cruise ship stranded as sick crew await evacuation amid hantavirus outbreak; human-to-human transmission suspected

The ship set off from Ushuaia, southern Argentina, on April 1 and stopped at multiple remote locations, including mainland Antarctica and the Atlantic islands of Tristan da Cunha and St. Helena.

In a lengthy summary of what is known about the outbreak, the WHO said passengers and crew began to feel ill between April 6 and 28, with the symptoms including “fever, gastrointestinal symptoms, rapid progression to pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome and shock.”

An unidentified British man is being treated in an intensive care unit in Johannesburg, South Africa. This patient — one of the two confirmed hantavirus cases — was evacuated from Ascension Island in the Atlantic, one of the most remote inhabited places on Earth.

The other confirmed case was a Dutch woman who died en route to the Netherlands after her husband died at sea.

Signaling the likely direction of an ongoing investigation, the WHO said the “extent of passenger contact with local wildlife during the voyage, or prior to boarding in Ushuaia, remains undetermined.”

Van Kerkhove said the WHO’s working assumption was that the Dutch passengers who died, a married couple ages 69 and 70, were infected on the boat.

Passengers took part in a range of activities while visiting destinations, including bird-watching — but it’s not known exactly what the current patients and the three who died did prior to their infections.

The WHO said it had been informed that there were no rats on the ship.

“We do believe there may be some human-to-human transmissions happening, among very close contact. … That’s our working assumption,” Van Kerkhove said. “Some people on the ship were couples; they were sharing rooms, so that’s quite intimate contact.”

This is the first outbreak of hantavirus on a cruise ship, Van Kerkhove said, adding that there is no known treatment. Patients are offered “supportive” care such as breathing aids.

Strict isolation and hygiene protocols are being followed by the 88 passengers and 59 crew on board, including 17 Americans.

Addressing those still isolating on the Hondius, she said: “We have heard from people on the ship, we hear you, we know you are scared.”