CAPE TOWN, South Africa — A Dutch cruise vessel carrying approximately 150 passengers remains stranded off the coast of Cape Verde in the Atlantic Ocean following a deadly outbreak of suspected hantavirus that has claimed three lives and left several others critically ill, according to the World Health Organization and the ship’s operating company.
The MV Hondius, which had been conducting an extended polar expedition from Argentina to Antarctica before visiting remote South Atlantic islands, sought assistance from local health officials after arriving at Cape Verde off West Africa’s coast. However, passengers and crew have been prohibited from leaving the vessel, the cruise company announced Sunday evening.
The first casualty was a 70-year-old Dutch passenger who developed symptoms including fever, headache, stomach pain and diarrhea before dying aboard the ship near Saint Helena, a British territory located approximately 1,200 miles from the African coastline, South African health officials reported. His remains were removed at that location and are awaiting transport home.
The man’s 69-year-old spouse was transported to South Africa but suffered a medical emergency at Johannesburg’s airport and passed away at a local hospital, the health department confirmed.
The vessel subsequently traveled to Ascension Island, another remote Atlantic location roughly 800 miles northward, where a British passenger was evacuated. Laboratory results later confirmed he had contracted hantavirus, a uncommon infection transmitted through rodents that can trigger severe lung complications or bleeding disorders, health authorities stated.
The British passenger remains in critical condition under isolation protocols at a South African medical facility’s intensive care unit, officials said.
The identity of the third deceased individual has not been released publicly, though the body remains aboard the cruise ship, according to the operating company.
WHO representatives indicated the remaining five suspected cases have not yet received laboratory confirmation for hantavirus infection.
The timeline of the deaths remains unclear. Maritime tracking data shows the vessel departed Ascension Island on April 27 bound for Cape Verde, located approximately 1,700 miles to the north.
Two crew members currently aboard the Hondius require immediate medical attention, Netherlands-based Oceanwide Expeditions stated in their announcement.
Oceanwide acknowledged managing a “serious medical situation” aboard the vessel but declined to provide additional details or confirm whether passengers are under quarantine measures.
“Local health authorities have visited the vessel to assess the condition of the two symptomatic individuals,” the cruise operator said Sunday evening. “They are yet to make a decision regarding the transfer of these individuals into medical care in Cape Verde.”
The World Health Organization confirmed its collaboration with local officials and ship operators to complete a “full public health risk assessment” while coordinating evacuation efforts for the two ill individuals.
“Detailed investigations are ongoing, including further laboratory testing, and epidemiological investigations,” WHO stated. “Medical care and support are being provided to passengers and crew. Sequencing of the virus is also ongoing.”
The Dutch Foreign Ministry verified that two victims held Dutch citizenship and indicated they are examining options for evacuating additional people from the vessel.
Hantaviruses, present worldwide, comprise a virus family transmitted primarily through contact with urine or waste from infected rodents such as rats and mice. These viruses gained public attention following the death of actor Gene Hackman’s wife, Betsy Arakawa, from hantavirus infection in New Mexico last year.
Hackman passed away approximately one week later at their residence from cardiac complications.
Person-to-person transmission of hantavirus infections can occur in exceptional circumstances, WHO noted. No specific treatment or vaccine exists, though prompt medical intervention can improve survival rates.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hantaviruses cause two severe conditions: hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which impacts the lungs, and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, which affects kidney function.
The CDC notes that lung-related illness occurs more frequently in hantavirus cases throughout the Americas.
“While severe in some cases, it is not easily transmitted between people,” Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, said Monday. “The risk to the wider public remains low. There is no need for panic or travel restrictions.”
South Africa’s Department of Health confirmed the ship had departed from Ushuaia in southern Argentina for an expedition that included stops in Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and other isolated South Atlantic locations.
Although Oceanwide Expeditions did not specify the exact voyage, the company promotes 33-night or 43-night “Atlantic Odyssey” expeditions aboard the 351-foot Hondius on their website, following similar routes and offering passengers access to some of Earth’s most remote islands.
The Hondius features 80 passenger cabins with capacity for 170 travelers, the company reported. Standard operations include 71 crew members, including medical personnel.
While authorities have not identified the potential source of the suspected outbreak, a previous hantavirus incident in southern Argentina during 2019 resulted in at least nine fatalities. That outbreak led a judge to mandate dozens of residents in a remote community remain in their homes for 30 days to prevent further transmission.
South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases is conducting contact tracing in the Johannesburg area to determine if other South African residents were exposed to infected cruise passengers. The 69-year-old woman who died had been attempting to board a flight at Johannesburg’s airport for her return journey to the Netherlands when she collapsed.
“There is no need for (the) public to panic,” South Africa’s health department stated, adding that WHO is “coordinating a multicountry response with all affected islands and countries to contain further spread of the disease.”
