Cruise ship where hantavirus broke out en route to the Netherlands

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus released a Thursday statement confirming that all passengers on board the MV Hondius had safely disembarked. Health officials will monitor passengers back on land, while Capt. Jan Dobrogowski and his 26-member crew remained onboard, he said. The Hondius was currently on route for the Netherlands, Ghebreyesus wrote. The cruise company, Ocean Wide Expeditions, first reported the disembarkment on Monday.

Officials reported on Wednesday that a total of 11 cases had been identified, nine of which were confirmed and two which were probable. The three previously reported deaths are included in the 11-patient case count, WHO noted. Ghebreyesus said Tuesday that, because of the virus’ 6-8-week incubation period, more cases were expected to emerge in the coming weeks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s hantavirus incident manager, David Fitter, again insisted that the virus’ risk to the general public remained low during a Wednesday briefing.

How many cases are in the United States? The CDC reported that there were currently no confirmed cases of the virus in the United States, and that several dozen people were being monitored due to exposures. The Department of Health and Human Services initially reported on Monday that at least 17 individuals were being monitored at U.S. health facilities, most residing at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Michael Wadman, medical director of the Nebraska center’s National Quarantine Unit, reported that 15 of the 16 Americans under observation at the clinic showed no signs of infection.

What have critics had to say? Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., released a Thursday statement calling on the Trump administration to take the hantavirus more seriously. Although the hantavirus appears less contagious, the Trump administration needs to address the holes it created in the pandemic response system, he wrote. President Donald Trump killed funding to study the hantavirus last year during the spree of drastic infectious disease research cuts, Murphy claimed. Trump’s first administration botched the initial COVID-19 response, and that can’t happen again, he added.

What has the president had to say? Speaking from the Oval Office Monday, Trump defended the response to the hantavirus, adding that the virus is very difficult to spread. He praised the University of Nebraska Medical Center, saying that doctors there were doing a fantastic job. He also stood by his administration’s decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization.

Dig deeper: Read my previous report on the hantavirus situation for more about how other countries are responding.