3 evacuated from hantavirus-hit cruise ship; new case confirmed in Switzerland
NBC News • • world
Key Points:
- Three passengers were medically evacuated from the cruise ship Hondius amid a hantavirus outbreak, which has caused three deaths and eight reported cases, including a new case in Switzerland.
- The outbreak involves the Andes strain of hantavirus, which is transmissible between people through close contact, unlike other common respiratory viruses, but poses a low public health threat according to the WHO.
- The Hondius, carrying nearly 150 people, remains stranded off Cape Verde after regional opposition in the Canary Islands blocked the ship from docking despite national government approval.
- Infectious disease specialists from the Netherlands are boarding the ship to assist, while one British patient remains in intensive care in South Africa.
- The ship began its voyage in Argentina on April 1 and visited remote locations including Antarctica and Atlantic islands before the outbreak was detected.
