Deadly virus from cruise liner penetrates Europe and begins to transmit from person to person
At least 23 passengers of the MV Hondius vessel, on board which a hantavirus outbreak was recorded, have already left the liner and returned home to various countries around the world, writes New York Post.
MV Hondius liner. Photo: Cruise Mapper
According to one of the passengers, who remains on board, people were not warned about a possible infection when they left the vessel during a stopover in Saint Helena in the South Atlantic on April 24.
"An Australian returned to Australia, a person from Taiwan to Taiwan, Americans to various US states. An Englishman to England, Dutch people went home… I don't remember the others," he said.
The ship, which was traveling from Ushuaia (Argentina province) to Cabo Verde, had 147 people on board: 88 passengers and 59 crew members of 23 nationalities. The vessel sailed through the South Atlantic with stops in Antarctica, South Georgia, Nightingale Islands, Tristan da Cunha, Saint Helena, and Ascension, writes The Moscow Times.
The World Health Organization reported that patients likely had a rare strain of Andes virus, capable of human-to-human transmission. The mortality rate of this strain can reach 40%. Experts believe that the infection is unlikely to spread widely, as hantavirus is significantly less contagious than COVID-19.
"Close contact with infected biological fluids is necessary for transmission," explained Ali Khan, Dean of the College of Public Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. According to him, it's not about brief contact.
According to Argentine investigators, a Dutch couple could have been the source of the infection on board.
It is believed that they became infected from rodents during a birdwatching excursion in Ushuaia, Argentina, a few days before the ship departed port on March 20.
The 70-year-old man died on April 11, almost two weeks before the ship's stop in Saint Helena. His wife, who later also died from the infection, went ashore with her husband's body and almost two dozen other passengers.
Later, a 78-year-old German citizen died, and at least eight more people remain suspected of infection and fell ill on board the vessel. According to the ship operator Oceanwide Expeditions, several critically ill passengers were transferred to medical teams in the Netherlands.
Among those evacuated was the ship's doctor, whose condition was previously assessed as serious, but later improved.
One passenger from Switzerland, who returned home with his wife, tested positive for hantavirus on Wednesday. He was initially hospitalized in Zurich, but the first test result was negative, as the virus can remain latent for up to eight weeks. Zurich authorities stated that "there is no risk to the Swiss population."
In France, a possible case of infection in a person who was not on board the vessel is also being investigated. It is assumed that contact might have occurred during an air travel with one of the infected passengers.
Additionally, according to Dutch TV channel RTL, a stewardess from the Dutch city of Haarlem was hospitalized with suspected infection after contact in Johannesburg with a 69-year-old Dutch citizen who later died from the virus.
Also, a 65-year-old German citizen, who was on board the tourist vessel Hondius, was admitted to the university clinic in Düsseldorf. According to doctors, the hospitalization was a precautionary measure: the woman currently has no symptoms and is considered only a contact person. The patient had contact with the deceased German woman.
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According to WHO data, people are most often infected after contact with urine, saliva, or feces of infected rodents. The virus can also enter the body through dust in enclosed or poorly ventilated areas.
Among the main symptoms of hantavirus are:
- high fever;
- headache;
- muscle pain;
- nausea and vomiting;
- abdominal pain;
- cough and shortness of breath.
In severe cases, the disease can quickly lead to respiratory problems, fluid accumulation in the lungs, or kidney failure.