Passengers on the MV Hondius, where a suspected hantavirus outbreak has occurred, will not be allowed to leave the ship until it reaches the Canary Islands, approximately 900 miles northeast of its current location off Cape Verde. The journey is expected to take three days.
Deaths and Hospitalizations
Three individuals who were on the voyage from Argentina to Cape Verde have died, and a British man is currently hospitalized in South Africa. The health authorities in Cape Verde have refused to allow non-symptomatic passengers and crew to disembark.
WHO Involvement and Medevac Plans
Dr. Maria van Kerkhove, director for Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention at the World Health Organisation (WHO), provided updates on BBC Breakfast. She stated that two crew members—one British and one Dutch—experiencing acute respiratory symptoms will be flown to Europe as soon as possible. The ship owner, Oceanwide Expeditions, confirmed that two air ambulances are being dispatched to evacuate the crew members, along with the partner of the German victim who died on May 2.
Dr. van Kerkhove emphasized: "Our top priority right now is to support the two ill patients on board to ensure they are Medivaced and receive proper care in the Netherlands."
Transmission Hypotheses
Dr. van Kerkhove explained the working hypothesis: "There's probably a couple of different types of transmission that might be happening: maybe some infection from exposure to rodents or their faeces or saliva before passengers embarked, and potentially some limited human-to-human transmission among close contacts." She stressed that aside from the two sick individuals, no other symptomatic people are on board.
Next Steps and Assessment
The WHO is coordinating with ship operators and relevant nations to plan for the ship's arrival in the Canary Islands. Dr. van Kerkhove said: "We want to ensure they are safe, receive food, water, and medical evaluation over several weeks. It's not about docking and letting everybody go without follow-up."
She thanked South Africa for their laboratory work, noting that the virus is assumed to be Andes virus, a type of hantavirus. The incubation period for hantavirus can be up to eight weeks, and Spanish officials are developing a plan for an onboard assessment once the ship docks.
