Hantavirus sinks cruise stocks. Collapse after high fuel prices

It wasn't enough to have the Strait of Hormuz funnel, the consequent soaring fuel costs, the uncertainties over flights (even so, cruise passengers move to get to their departure piers). The cases of Hantavirus - albeit limited but, in some cases, lethal, concentrated on the Mv Hondius, departing from Ushuaia, Argentina - are causing a further stress test on shipping company stocks.

Thus, during the session, as news broke of the disembarkation of passengers in Tenerife, the aggravation of a French passenger and the contagion of another American, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd lost 3.3% (in the last three months the stock has lost over 20%), Carnival Corporation fell over 4% (-10% in one week and -23% in one month) and Viking Holdings -1.3% (but in the last week the stock rose 3% and in the last month over 5%). Finally, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd lost 3% but well over 17% in the last month.

A flash in the pan or a fear that will last? It is too early to say whether the Hantavirus will have affected cruises through a possible collapse in bookings. Not least because the last minute accounts for about 25-30% of bookings on ships. Cabins are filled, therefore, thanks to the practice of offering the last available seats even at a large discount (30-50 per cent). It would not be surprising if many more holidaymakers than expected decided to wait for precisely those offers last minute. Also in order to understand whether the US and Iran will actually manage to reach an agreement and thus provide a definite timeframe for the reopening of the Hormuz Canal. This would relieve the pressure on the barrel enormously. Both for the cruise ship companies and for the planes, which are often decisive in taking passengers to the ports of departure and bringing them home from those of arrival.

Just a few months before the summer, Simit (Italian Society of Tropical Infectious Diseases) also points to advice for travellers: 'In some particular situations,' said Simit past president Massimo Andreoni, 'the risk can increase. In closed and confined environments, such as on a cruise ship, conditions can amplify the spread. In this period, one must also consider temperature changes and frequenting closed and crowded environments, where it is easier to come into contact with people with respiratory infections other than hantavirus. In these contexts, when staying for long periods of time in very crowded places, especially for frail persons, the use of a mask is recommended along with frequent hand washing. The same precautions apply when travelling by plane or in the waiting areas of stations and airports, where one comes into contact with people from different parts of the world and where there may also be exposure to viruses not circulating in Italia. In general,' concluded Andreoni, 'face masks and hand hygiene remain the two most effective measures

"There are 30 different species of hantavirus, the only one that can be transmitted is the one from the Andes that caused the outbreak on the cruise ship. This virus 'sojourns' in South America, particularly in Argentina and Chile where it is causing several cases,' epidemiologist Massimo Ciccozzi explained to Adnkronos Health. 'It is difficult for mice to transmit the virus to humans, but the Andes virus can pass to humans via the respiratory route by inhaling, for example, dust from mouse fece or by touching mouse saliva. All this happens if there is no hand hygiene afterwards. In short, catching a hantavirus infection is not easy. It is by no means a 'new Covid', it is something else. Covid had low severity but wide spread, hantavirus has high lethality but low spread'.