A cluster of hantavirus cases struck the Dutch-flagged cruise ship MV Hondius as it traveled across the southern Atlantic, stopping at a number of destinations along the way.
Public health authorities' investigations are ongoing. Gaps in knowledge are expected during an unfolding investigation, and as those gaps are filled, we will update you here.
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This blog is for informational purposes only and is not meant to offer medical advice. We endeavor to keep the information in this live feed timely and accurate, so parts of this page may be updated or corrected as new details emerge.
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Various social media posts and videos have been casting suspicion on when the MV Hondius actually departed Ushuaia, Argentina. The WHO's website notes April 1 as the departure date, while the Africa CDC website states March 20. So I reached out to the cruise operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, about the discrepancy.
A spokesperson shared that, from March 20 to March 30, the ship traveled from Ushuaia to Antarctica and back. Then, from April 1 to April 24, it traveled from Ushuaia to the island of St. Helena. Then, between April 24 and May 4, it traveled from St. Helena to Cape Verde.
When asked if any potential hantavirus cases were associated with that first leg of the trip, the spokesperson directed me to the WHO's official statements. The earliest known symptomatic case was on April 6 and involved a man who had boarded the ship on April 1.
Both the man and his wife — the second passenger to get sick — had traveled in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay prior to boarding, and officials currently suspect that that's when they got exposed. Both individuals have since died.
Additionally, once the medical status of everyone on board is assessed, the WHO will also coordinate with each person's home country to safely repatriate them.
The body of the third person to die in the outbreak — a woman who passed away on board on May 2 after developing pneumonia — is still being stored on the MV Hondius. WHO officials are in contact with the cruise operators about safe storage and eventual transport of the remains.
As of yet, there's "no indication" that there's anything particularly unusual about the hantaviruses themselves, but it is notable that the outbreak is taking place on a cruise ship, said Anaïs Legand, the WHO's technical officer of viral hemorrhagic fevers. A ship is a unique environment where people from many places are in close quarters.
The Andes virus is transmitted to humans mainly through contact with the long-tailed pygmy rice rat (Oligoryzomys longicaudatus). People may pick up the virus through exposure to the rat's urine, feces or saliva. For instance, they may accidentally touch the rat's feces and then touch their face, or alternatively, breathe in viral particles that get released into the air when rodent droppings get disturbed in the environment.
(Image credit: FABRICE COFFRINI/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Both Argentina and the U.S. recently withdrew from the World Health Organization (WHO). In the face of this outbreak, "I think they will reconsider their positions," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO's director-general. "Viruses don't care about our politics; they don't care about our borders, and they don't care about all the excuses that we may have."
When asked whether U.S. health authorities are participating in the ongoing investigation, several WHO representatives confirmed that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is providing helpful technical support and expertise and communicating with WHO leaders daily.
Maria Van Kerkhove at a WHO news conference.
(Image credit: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)
The World Health Organization (WHO) just held a news conference to discuss the hantavirus cases.
The WHO has been working with collaborating centers to identify the type of the virus behind the outbreak, as well as investigate suspected and confirmed cases and perform contact tracing. The agency has also been quick to quash fears that the outbreak could spark a global pandemic.
"This is not SARS-CoV-2 [the virus that causes COVID-19]. This is not the start of a COVID pandemic. This is an outbreak that we see on a ship," Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's interim director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, said at the news conference.
"This is not the same situation we were in six years ago," she continued. "It [the Andes virus] doesn't spread the same way like coronaviruses do. It's very different. It's that close, intimate contact that we've seen, and most hantaviruses don't transmit between people at all."
"The Andes virus, which has been identified here, we've seen some human-to-human transmission," she added. "I want to reiterate [that] the actions that are being taken on board are precautionary to prevent any onward spread, and so there's a lot that is being done right now to be able to try to minimize the risk even further."
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Hantaviruses are a family of viruses carried by rodents. Hantavirus infections in humans are relatively uncommon, but when they do occur, they can be dangerous, with fatality rates ranging between 1% up to 50% depending on the type of virus at hand. No specific treatment exists to cure infections, but prompt medical care can improve patients' chances of survival.
While most hantaviruses cannot pass between people, one specific type, known as the Andes virus, can. The Andes virus is the type of hantavirus that laboratory tests point to being behind this cluster. Health authorities are now working to analyze the virus's DNA in order to compare its sequence to that of Andes viruses involved in past outbreaks.
The World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have both said that the risk posed to the public from this cluster remains low, although they continue to monitor the situation.
For more on the Andes virus, you can read health editor Nicoletta's story here. And for more background information on hantaviruses, broadly, you can read this story.
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