The World Health Organization has said the risk to the general public from a hantavirus outbreak on the cruise vessel MV Hondius is “absolutely low”, after three passengers died and others fell ill. The ship, carrying around 150 people, is expected to reach Tenerife on Sunday, with passengers then due to be repatriated on special flights.
The Dutch-flagged vessel has been travelling from South America across the Atlantic and has already triggered contact tracing in several countries. Health officials have confirmed five cases and three suspected cases, while one KLM flight attendant who had contact with an infected passenger later tested negative.
WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said the virus was dangerous for infected patients, but not a major threat to the wider public. He said the negative test result for the flight attendant was “good news” and showed that contact with an infected person did not always lead to infection.
The outbreak has centred on the MV Hondius, a ship used for polar expeditions as well as cruises. Three passengers – a Dutch husband and wife and a German woman – died after falling ill with the rare disease, which is usually spread among rodents.
The only hantavirus species known to spread from person to person, Andes virus, has been identified among some of those who tested positive. That finding increased concern among health authorities, but the WHO has repeatedly stressed that the overall public risk remains low.
Oceanwide Expeditions, the cruise operator, said 30 passengers, including the first person to die, disembarked at the remote British island of Saint Helena on 24 April. A flight from there to Johannesburg the next day prompted further tracing of passengers and crew who later continued onward travel.
The passenger who died in Johannesburg had briefly been on a plane bound from the city to the Netherlands on 25 April, but was removed before take-off. The WHO said a flight attendant on the Dutch airline KLM, who later developed mild symptoms, tested negative for hantavirus.
In a statement to reporters, Christian Lindmeier said the situation suggested the virus was not spreading easily between people. “That shows you again, luckily, apparently, the virus is not that contagious that it easily jumps from person to person,” he said.
He also said: “It’s not spreading anything close to how Covid was spreading.” He added that the outbreak remained serious for those infected, but the risk to the wider population was minimal.
Passengers on board have described a tense but controlled atmosphere as the ship nears the Canary Islands. Travel YouTuber Kasem Ibn Hattuta said doctors had joined the ship before it sailed on to Tenerife and that passengers felt reassured by the medical response.
“We finally left Cape Verde which was a relief for everyone on board, specially knowing that our sick colleagues are finally getting the medical care they need,” he said. He added that people were wearing masks indoors, keeping their distance and remaining calm.
The MV Hondius left Ushuaia, in southern Argentina, on 1 April for a cruise across the Atlantic to Cape Verde. It then headed towards the Canary Islands after health teams evacuated three suspected cases, including two crew members who later tested positive, from Cape Verde to the Netherlands.
The ship has now cleared the Mauritanian coast and is heading for Tenerife, where Spanish authorities have said it will anchor offshore and not dock. Passengers will be transferred to the airport on a smaller vessel before being flown home.
Britain has chartered a repatriation flight from Tenerife for UK passengers and crew. The UK Health Security Agency said infection control measures would be in place throughout the journey to protect those travelling home.
Robin May, chief scientific officer at the UKHSA, said: “Established infection control measures will be put in place at every step of the journey to ensure the safe repatriation of British passengers on board.” He said the agency was working with international partners to manage the risk.
The outbreak has prompted concern far beyond the ship because some passengers and crew have already travelled onward through several countries. But health officials say the current evidence suggests the risk to the general public remains very small, even as they continue monitoring possible cases linked to the voyage.
