Health authorities in the United States and several other countries are racing to track passengers linked to a deadly outbreak of Hantavirus aboard the expedition cruise ship MS Hondius, after three deaths and multiple suspected infections were reported.
The outbreak has triggered an international public health response as officials attempt to locate dozens of passengers who left the vessel without formal contact tracing procedures while it stopped at the remote Atlantic island of Saint Helena.
Cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions confirmed that 30 passengers disembarked on April 24, including six Americans. Authorities said some returned to states including Arizona, Georgia and California, though no symptoms have yet been reported among those individuals.
A potential additional case emerged Thursday involving a flight attendant in Amsterdam who is being tested for hantavirus. Dutch health officials confirmed the airline worker was hospitalized, although they did not disclose details about her condition.
The case may be linked to a flight operated by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines involving a Dutch woman who later died after contracting the virus. She had reportedly boarded a flight from Johannesburg to Amsterdam before being removed from the aircraft prior to takeoff.
The World Health Organization has confirmed the outbreak involves the Andes strain of hantavirus, a rare variant capable of limited person-to-person transmission through close contact. Experts stress that it spreads far less easily than respiratory illnesses such as COVID-19 or influenza.
Most hantavirus infections are linked to exposure to rodents or their droppings. Human infections are extremely rare, and this marks the first known outbreak associated with a cruise ship. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fewer than 900 confirmed hantavirus cases were recorded in the United States between 1993 and 2023.
Nearly 150 people remain aboard the Hondius under isolation measures as the vessel sails from Cape Verde toward the Canary Islands. Authorities there have expressed concern about allowing the ship to dock.
The three confirmed deaths include a Dutch couple and a German passenger. Additional suspected cases are under treatment in South Africa and Zurich.
Meanwhile, officials in Ushuaia, where the voyage began, have launched rodent-trapping operations and extensive diagnostic testing to determine the source of the outbreak.
