A hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship has left 3 people dead and another in intensive care.
The MV Hondius, a polar expedition vessel carrying around 170 passengers and 70 crew, was sailing from Argentina to Cape Verde when 6 people became ill.
3 have now died, including what appears to be a husband and wife, while a 69-year-old Briton is fighting for his life in a Johannesburg hospital.
Hantavirus is not the flu, it is a rodent-borne hemorrhagic virus with no vaccine and no specific treatment, transmitted through contact with infected rodent urine, droppings, or saliva, and with a fatality rate that can reach 40% in some strains.
The WHO’s warning that human-to-human transmission is ‘rare but possible’ is the part that should get people’s attention.
3 deaths from 6 cases on a sealed vessel with 240 souls on board is not a reassuring ratio…
The WHO is investigating, the ship is currently off the coast of Cape Verde, and 2 more symptomatic passengers may be evacuated.
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