Hantavirus outbreak on Mv Hondius cruise: new case in Argentina unrelated to infection on board

The 14 Spaniards travelling on the ship will be checked in the Canary Islands and flown to Madrid, where they will stay in quarantine at the Ulla hospital in Madrid.

Territorio d’Oltremare britannico nel Sud Atlantico

Sant’Elena, Ascensione e Tristan da Cunha

Butthe news of the day is that 23 passengers of the cruise ship MV Hondius had already disembarked more than a fortnight ago, on the island of Ascension,10 days after the first death on board (St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha form a British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic, ed.).

From there, on 21 April, they started their return to their countries. A Spanish passenger told the Spanish daily El Pais. "Twenty-three people disembarked in the Overseas Territories and, until three days ago, no one had contacted them," said the cruise passenger.

one of these 23 people is in Zurich. "The Swiss authorities have confirmed another 'hantavirus case. This was announced by the World Health Organisation, in a post also circulated via X. "The man of Swiss nationality," explains the UN health agency, "had responded to an e-mail from the ship's operator, informing passengers (also that disembarked, ndr) of the health event" verified on board "and presented himself at a hospital in Zurich, Switzerland, where he is receiving the necessary treatment.

As of 6 May, summarises the WHO, 'there are 8 cases, 3 of which have been confirmed as hantavirus by laboratory testing. 

The patient presented himself at the hospital on Monday "with mild respiratory symptoms", explaining that he "had been a passenger on this cruise ship, that he was aware of the hantavirus situation, which allowed him to be treated in isolation from the start," Manuel Schibler, head of the virology laboratory at the University Hospitals of Geneva, the facility that performed the test on the man, told Afp.

The wife, who "has not yet shown any symptoms, has self-isolated as a precaution", the Swiss Health Ministry explained. The authorities are investigating whether the patient had contact with other people during the period of illness.

The Swiss ministry also pointed out that, "unlike the European hantavirus, which is transmitted through the excrement of infected rodents, the American variant can be transmitted from person to person, although such cases are rare".

However, it was emphasised, transmission is only possible "in the case of close contact".

Therefore, it is considered "unlikely that further cases will occur in Switzerland" and the risk to the population is described as "low".

A new case of hantavirus has been detected in recent hours in Argentina in the Andean city of San Carlos de Bariloche, Rio Negro province, a region recognised by the national health authorities and the WHO as one of the reservoirs of origin of the Andean strain of the virus that caused the outbreak on the cruise ship Mv Hondius.

The new case, local health authorities report, concerns a 45-year-old man who has been admitted to intensive care since Sunday but is in 'stable condition and without respiratory assistance'. 'In accordance with the health protocols in force in the province,' a statement read, 'two close contacts have been identified and isolated: his current partner and his son.

Both remain in their respective homes under epidemiological surveillance to exclude the appearance of any symptoms compatible with the disease'. However, the case is not yet attributable to the Hondius outbreak.

Although the province of Rio Negro is recognised by the national health authorities and the WHO as one of the endemic reservoirs of the Andean strain of the virus found in the Dutch cruise outbreak, the city of Bariloche is nevertheless more than 2,000 kilometres north of the port of Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego, from where the Mv Hondius sailed on 1 April, and no clues have yet emerged as to whether passengers have visited the area.

The type of virus responsible for this outbreak was confirmed as hantavirus Andes strain by the National Institute for Infectious Diseases in South Africa and the University Hospitals of Geneva in Switzerland.

The Count

 The 149 people - of 23 nationalities - who had been reported so far, therefore, originally numbered 172. But while most remain on the ship, under strict hygienic and isolation measures, 23 as mentioned have returned home and lead a life without any supervision. "The Australian in Australia, the Taiwanese in Taiwan, the Americans in every corner of North America. The English in England, the Dutch at home. I don't remember where the others were from, but no Spaniards,' specified one passenger.

19 passengers and four British crew members are on board. One of them, a 56-year-old doctor, was evacuated from the ship after showing symptoms and is in 'stable condition'. The Foreign Office is organising the return.

Human-to-human transmission of the hantavirus is possible. This is stated by the WHO: 'We believe there may be human-to-human transmission between close contacts,' said Maria Van Kerkhove, Director for Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention at the WHO.

"Given the length of the incubation period of the hantavirus, which can vary from one to six weeks, we assume that they were infected outside the ship", and "we assume that there may have been human-to-human transmission between those who were in close contact".

 The outbreak, however, presents a low risk to the population. This was stated by the World Health Organisation's Director-General for Europe, Belgian Hans Henri P. Kluge. "The risk for the general population remains low. There is no need for panic or travel restrictions," Hans Kluge said in a statement, adding that hantavirus infections are "rare and usually linked to exposure to infected rodents".

The nightmare aboard the cruise ship besieged by the hantavirus while on voyage over the Atlantic Ocean began on 6 April, a few days after departure.

The boat set sail on 1 April from Ushuaia, Argentina.

On 6 April, a Dutchman (70 years old) begins to experience symptoms on board: fever, headache, mild diarrhoea. At first it seems like something manageable, but the patient worsens and on 11 April begins to experience breathing difficulties. The same day he dies on the ship (case 1).

No microbiological tests were carried out and the passenger's body was transported to St Helena (British overseas territory) on 24 April.

But it is only the beginning of a chain of illnesses that will later lead the health authorities to launch a wide-ranging investigation to trace every possible contact.

Also disembarking at St Helena on 24 April was his wife, also Dutch (69 years old), who had been in close contact with Case 1 and complained of gastrointestinal symptoms. Her condition worsens during the plane trip to Johannesburg, South Africa, on 25 April.

He died in the emergency room on 26 April.

A passenger, who later died of a hantavirus infection, had briefly boarded a KLM flight from Johannesburg to the Netherlands, but was taken off the plane before take-off. This was stated by the airline. 'Due to the passenger's condition at the time, the crew has decided not to allow him to travel on this flight,' Klm said, referring to flight KL592 from Johannesburg to Amsterdam on 25 April at 23:15 local time.

On the ship, which will arrive in the Canary Islands on Saturday, there will also be the body of a German passenger, as cremation was not possible in Cape Verde, the World Health Organisation reported. "The body has been kept in cold storage and will be transported by sea," said Ann Lindstrand, WHO representative in the country. The WHO pointed out that it has not yet been verified whether the passenger was a confirmed case of hantavirus.

No Italians on board

"There are no passengers of Italian nationality on board the ship". This was stated by the Ministry of Health in reference to the cruise ship Hondius which was the scene of a hantavirus outbreak.

The hantavirus allegedly arrived on board the ship Hondius after a birdwatching excursion made by a couple in a rubbish dump. The Ap writes this, citing two Argentinian officials investigating the outbreak. The main hypothesis is that the Dutch couple - both of whom died - contracted the virus during an excursion to Ushuaia - then before their departure to Argentina, where they visited a dump where they may have come into contact with rats carrying the infection.