Hantavirus may have spread between passengers on cruise ship, WHO says

Two cases of the virus, which rarely spreads between humans, have been confirmed on the ship, and three people have died. 27 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Ian Aikman and Kathryn Armstrong The World Health Organization says there may have been rare human-to-human transmission of hantavirus on the Dutch cruise ship where three passengers have died. The virus is usually spread from rodents, but the WHO said in this instance it could have spread among "really close contacts" aboard the MV Hondius vessel. Two crew members - one British and one Dutch - are due to be medically evacuated by aircraft to the Netherlands after displaying "acute respiratory symptoms", the ship's operator Oceanwide Expeditions said. A person linked to a German national who died is also due to be evacuated.

It is currently anchored near Cape Verde, off Africa's west coast. Medical teams from Cape Verde, supported by the WHO, have boarded the ship to help with the suspected cases, spokesperson Tarik Yasarevic told the BBC. Testing is taking place for other passengers and crew members who are displaying symptoms. Images taken from on board the cruise ship show workers in hazmat suits in a smaller vessel alongside. Some 149 people from 23 countries remain aboard under "strict precautionary measures", Oceanwide said.

Aside from the crew member due to be evacuated, there are 22 other British nationals aboard. She added that the WHO suspected the first person to fall ill could have contracted the virus before boarding the ship. Seven cases of hantavirus - two confirmed and five suspected - have so far been identified, according to the latest WHO update. The two confirmed cases are a Dutch woman, who is among those who died, and a 69-year-old UK national who was evacuated to South Africa for medical treatment. The woman's husband also died but he is not a confirmed case, nor is the German national who passed away on 2 May.

Investigators are working under the assumption that the Andes strain of the virus, which spreads in South America where the cruise began, has been found in the two confirmed cases. The organisation was told there were no rats on board, Van Kerkhove said, adding that disinfection was taking place on the ship and those with symptoms or caring for patients were wearing full personal protective equipment. "Our working hypothesis is that there's probably a couple of different types of transmission that might be happening," Van Kerkhove told BBC Breakfast on Tuesday. She noted the cruise had visited many different islands, some of which have rodents, which typically spread the virus through their faeces, saliva or urine. But Spain's health ministry has played down speculation that it will take in the ship.

"Until then, the health ministry will not take a decision, as we have explained to the WHO." A spokesman for Spain's health ministry told the BBC it had not yet received a request for the boat to stop at the Canaries. That would include providing medical attention, analysis and disinfection. Though they cannot yet leave the ship, one passenger told the BBC on Monday that the mood on the vessel was "pretty good". Health Cruise ships Cape Verde Outbreaks Africa Two cases of the virus, which rarely spreads between humans, have been confirmed on the ship, and three people have died. Hantavirus may have spread between passengers on cruise ship, WHO says