on PinterestOfficials say that 18 American passengers have been airlifted to the U.S. after a deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship.
on PinterestOfficials say that 18 American passengers have been airlifted to the U.S. after a deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship. Chris McGrath/Getty Images
- 18 American passengers have been airlifted to the U.S. after a deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard an Antarctic expedition cruise ship.
- Investigators believe the rare Andes virus strain may have spread among passengers in the ship’s close quarters.
- Experts say the outbreak highlights the seriousness of hantavirus, but stress that the risk of a COVID-like pandemic remains low.
Health officials say that 18 Americans have returned safely to the United States after traveling on a cruise ship in the Atlantic linked to a deadly hantavirus outbreak.
The U.S. State Department airlifted the passengers from the Spanish island of Tenerife on May 10. Two of those passengers are being treated in biocontainment units “out of an abundance of caution,” according to the Health and Human Services X account. One passenger tested positive for hantavirus, while the other developed mild symptoms, officials said.
Of the repatriated Americans, 16 are being treated at an ASPR Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center in Omaha, NE. Two others are being treated at a RESPTC in Atlanta, GA. The Americans are among dozens of passengers monitored as international health officials continue investigating the outbreak aboard the ship.
The Dutch-flagged m/v Hondius departed from southern Argentina on April 1 with roughly 150 passengers and crew aboard for an expedition cruise through the Atlantic Ocean. Just 11 days into the voyage, a 70-year-old man died after developing fever, headaches, and abdominal pain.
After several additional passengers became ill, the World Health Organization (WHO) identified the ship as the site of a hantavirus outbreak.
As of May 12, the number of confirmed hantavirus cases linked to the ship rose to 11, according to the WHO. Three deaths have also been confirmed: a Dutch married couple and a German national.
All remaining passengers have disembarked and are being repatriated to their home countries, according to the latest statement from Oceanwide Expeditions, the ship’s operator.
However, the repatriation effort appeared to cause alarm and fuel fears of another pandemic — concerns that experts say are overstated.
“I think we’re actually in very good shape,” said Lina Moses, PhD, an epidemiologist and disease ecologist at Tulane University’s Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine, who specializes in rodent-borne diseases.
“It’s not surprising we’re starting to see more suspected cases. That means that the process is working right. They are monitoring people effectively and identifying people as they become ill,” Moses told Healthline.
Concerns over human-to-human transmission
Pandemic fears have largely been driven by what is believed to be human-to-human transmission of hantavirus aboard the Hondius, a rare but documented phenomenon.
Hantavirus is typically transmitted through exposure to the urine or droppings of infected mice and rats. The virus can survive in dust and debris, and when that dust is inhaled, infection can occur.
However, one strain of hantavirus endemic to South America, the Andes virus, has been linked to cases of human-to-human transmission. It
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