An American doctor stranded aboard a cruise ship plagued by a hantavirus outbreak has described how the luxury vacation descended into panic as the deadly virus spread. Dr Stephen Kornfeld boarded the MV Hondius in Argentina last month expecting a trip of a lifetime, but his plans were upended when a Dutch couple contracted the virus, likely during a birdwatching trip to an Argentinian landfill. The 70-year-old husband died on April 11, followed by his wife on April 24.
Kornfeld told CNN that he "fell into the role of becoming the ship doctor" after the onboard medic also fell ill. At least eight passengers have been infected, with three fatalities. Kornfeld is among 17 Americans still on board with 129 other passengers as the ship heads to Tenerife, Spain. His local congresswoman, Janelle Bynum, has called for immediate repatriation.
The doctor recounted how the situation deteriorated rapidly. "Over 12 to 24 hours, it became clear there were a number of people sick and they were getting sicker," he said. Passengers showed confusion, weakness, and panic as the rat-borne hantavirus, with a mortality rate of about 40 percent, tore through the ship. The ship's doctor and two others became seriously ill within a day, exhibiting fever, fatigue, flushing, gastrointestinal issues, and shortness of breath.
"The fear with hantavirus is you can go from seriously ill to critically ill very quickly," Kornfeld explained. Bynum slammed the Trump administration for "abandoning" US citizens, stating in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CDC Acting Director Jay Bhattacharya that there has been no evidence of a sufficient federal response. "They have no guidance and no support to ensure their safe return home," she said.
The outbreak has sparked global concern as dozens of passengers were allowed to disembark without being informed of risks. A German woman died on May 2, and two others are in critical condition in South Africa and Switzerland. Hantavirus can have an incubation period of over a month, raising fears of further spread. Kornfeld noted that survivability depends on timely critical care, which was unavailable on the ship.
Turkish vlogger Ruhi Cenet shared footage of the captain reassuring passengers after the first death, claiming it was due to natural causes and not infectious. The ship's operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, said the cause of death was unknown at the time and proper procedures were followed. Cenet criticized the lack of transparency, saying, "It turns out we were not well informed."
