Cruise ship at centre of suspected hantavirus outbreak blocked from docking in Cape Verde

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Officials say they will not authorise docking ‘to protect public health’ after deaths of three passengers

• What is hantavirus, the infection thought to have killed three on cruise ship?

Officials in Cape Verde have said they will not allow a cruise ship believed to be harbouring an outbreak of a rare respiratory virus to dock in its ports, after the deaths of three passengers onboard.

The statement on Monday came hours after global health officials said they were scrambling to investigate the suspected outbreak of hantavirus, a disease primarily found in rodents, on the cruise ship in the Atlantic.

The hantavirus is suspected of killing three people, including a married couple from the Netherlands, sickening at least two others on the ship and sending a 69-year-old British tourist to intensive care in South Africa.

Cape Verde health authorities said they had been monitoring the situation of the ship anchored off its coast and would not authorise its docking “with the aim of protecting national public health”.

Cape Verde said it was in contact with authorities in the Netherlands and the UK about the Dutch-flagged ship, which it said was carrying 147 passengers and crew. “This coordination has enabled a swift, safe and technically appropriate response, ensuring the clinical monitoring of patients and the preparation of all necessary precautionary measures, including a possible medical evacuation by air via air ambulance for patients under observation,” it added.

The MV Hondius, which left Argentina around three weeks ago before making several stops as it crossed the Atlantic, made international headlines on Sunday after the World Health Organization (WHO) said it was involved in a “public health event” onboard.

The risk to the wider public remained low, a Europe-based official later said, adding that there was no need for panic or travel restrictions. “To date, one case of hantavirus infection has been laboratory confirmed, and there are five additional suspected cases,” the UN health agency said in a statement on Sunday. “Of the six affected individuals, three have died and one is currently in intensive care in South Africa.”

It said it was working to have two symptomatic passengers on the ship medically evacuated.

South African officials said the British national had been sent to a private health facility in Johannesburg after falling ill near Ascension Island in the Atlantic. “His laboratory test results came back positive for hantavirus,” a spokesperson told PA Media.

South Africa’s health department said two of the victims were a Dutch couple. The man, 70, had suffered from fever, headaches and stomach pains before he died on the ship. A spokesperson for the department said it was working to verify reports that his body had been removed in the British territory of St Helena.

His wife, 69, later collapsed at an airport as she was attempting to return to the Netherlands; she died at a nearby hospital.

The cruise ship operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, said late on Sunday that two crew members onboard the vessel were in need of urgent medical care. It was waiting for Cape Verde officials to authorise the disembarkation of guests requiring medical care, it added.

It said it was working with Dutch authorities to organise the repatriation of the two crew members. “The body of the deceased individual is also planned to be included in this repatriation, along with a guest closely associated with the deceased,” it said, noting that the accompanying guest was “not symptomatic.”

It warned that the repatriation hinged on several authorities working together. “This repatriation depends on many factors, including the authorisation and support of local Cape Verdean health authorities for the transfer of individuals requiring medical attention from MV Hondius.”

The Netherlands ministry of foreign affairs confirmed the deaths of two Dutch citizens, noting both were “previously onboard a cruise ship near Cape Verde”.

Because the ship is sailing under the Dutch flag, the Netherlands is coordinating consular assistance for passengers, including those with other nationalities, a spokesperson said in a statement. “The ministry of foreign affairs is currently working, together with all involved partners, to review the possibility of medical evacuations for a few passengers,” it added.

Hantavirus infections, which are usually spread by infected rodents’ urine or faeces, can lead to severe respiratory illness and can be fatal.

South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases was carrying out contact tracing in and around Johannesburg in order to assess whether people had been exposed to the infected passengers.

The UK’s Foreign Office said it was also closely monitoring reports of the suspected outbreak. “We are in touch with the cruise company and local authorities,” it said.

While it is rare, hantavirus infections can spread between people, according to the WHO. The family of viruses made headlines around the world last year after the actor Gene Hackman’s wife, Betsy Arakawa, died following a hantavirus infection in New Mexico.

• Infectious diseases
• Cape Verde
• Africa
• South Africa
• Netherlands
• news