Dutch authorities have confirmed that approximately 40 passengers left the MV Hondius, a cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak, after the first passenger died onboard. The passengers disembarked during a stop at the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena, according to the Dutch foreign ministry.
Among those who left the ship was the wife of a 70-year-old Dutch passenger who died after falling ill during the voyage. She later flew on a commercial flight to South Africa, where she collapsed and died in hospital. The cruise operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, had previously only acknowledged that the woman left the ship with her husband’s body, not that dozens of others also disembarked.
Dutch officials did not specify where the passengers who left the ship are now, but authorities across Europe and Africa are tracing them. The ship, flagged in the Netherlands, remains marooned off the coast of Cape Verde with nearly 150 people still onboard.
What Happened on the MV Hondius?
Three passengers have died and eight others have been sickened by hantavirus on the MV Hondius. The ship left Argentina on 1 April on an Atlantic cruise that was originally scheduled to include stops in Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, and other locations, but its itinerary changed due to the outbreak.
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said three patients with suspected hantavirus cases have been evacuated and are on their way to the Netherlands. “At this stage, the overall public health risk remains low,” he wrote on his X account.
Maria Van Kerkhove of the WHO said officials are investigating possible human-to-human transmission—something considered extremely rare—and believe the first infected person likely contracted the virus before boarding. Authorities have also said there are no rats on board.
A case linked to the ship has been confirmed in Switzerland, while health authorities in South Africa and Switzerland have identified a strain capable of spreading between humans in rare cases. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has assessed the risk to the public as very low, as we reported in our earlier coverage.
What Is Hantavirus?
Hantavirus refers to a group of viruses carried by rodents, primarily transmitted to humans through inhalation of airborne particles from dried rodent droppings. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hantaviruses can cause two serious illnesses: hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which affects the lungs and can lead to severe respiratory failure, and haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, which affects the kidneys.
The outbreak has also raised questions about the risks of so-called “last chance tourism,” as discussed in our analysis. Meanwhile, the Canary Islands president has rejected Madrid’s decision to dock the ship, as detailed in this report.
