Andes-strain Hantavirus cases confirmed on cruise ship

Eight cases of the rodent-borne virus were identified among passengers and crew of the MV Hondius, according to a Wednesday statement from the Argentine Ministry of Health. The number of cases included three individuals aboard the boat who died from the virus, health officials added. The World Health Organization confirmed the outbreak on board the Dutch cruise ship on Monday. Five of the eight cases were confirmed as hantavirus. 

Health officials characterize the virus as rare but severe. About 35% of hantavirus cases result in death, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. It is most commonly contracted through contact with urine, feces, or saliva from infected rodents. However, the specific strain of hantavirus confirmed to be on the ship, known as the Andes virus, has been reported to have limited human-to-human transmission, according to the WHO.

The ship is heading to the Spanish Canary Islands amid international concern. No people with symptoms are currently on the ship. Some ship passengers, including six Americans, departed the ship prior to the first case being confirmed, according to cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions.

Where did the virus come from? The boat shoved off from an Argentine resort town on April 1 with nearly 150 passengers and crew to sail the South Atlantic Ocean. The vessel stopped in several remote and ecologically diverse areas during the voyage, including mainland Antarctica, South Georgia, Nightingale Island, Tristan da Cunha, Saint Helena, and Ascension Island, according to the WHO.

The first passenger who died from the illness developed symptoms about a week into the cruise. That passenger, along with another passenger who also died, traveled through South America before boarding the boat, the WHO said. Passengers’ contact with local wildlife remained unknown, the WHO said Wednesday.

Where are the surviving patients now? At least three patients have been evacuated from the ship to receive care in the Netherlands, according to a Wednesday statement from the U.K. Health Security Agency.

Do they know anything about how the virus is spreading? Lab work confirmed that the virus variant matched the Andes strain, which has only been reported in three Argentine provinces as well as southern Chile, Argentine officials added. Argentina planned to send supplies for about 2,500 Andes virus RNA testing kits to laboratories in Spain, Senegal, South Africa, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

Relatively little is known about the hantavirus’s natural behaviors because of how rare cases are, according to the U.K. Health Security Agency Professor Robin May. Officials are now conducting contact tracing to identify individuals on the boat, on shore, or who left the cruise early who may possibly contract the virus, May said. He insisted that this strain of hantavirus, though seemingly able to pass from human to human, doesn’t spread nearly as easily as COVID-19. The only people who may be at risk are those who spent an extended period of time in close contact with a patient, like sharing a room or sitting together on a long flight, he said. Most hantavirus strains don’t spread between humans at all, he added.