Argentinian authorities are reconstructing the journeys of Dutch citizens who presented with symptoms of deadly hantavirus after visiting Argentina and Chile as part of a luxury cruise trip, the country's Health Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday (6 May)
Testing will be carried out on rodents in the city of Ushuaia, Argentina's most southern city, and the departure point of the cuise ship, the Ministry said.
It comes after a Duch couple and a German national, passengers on the MV Hondius luxury cruise, died after contracting hantavirus.
The boat, which has nearly 150 people on board, is expected to dock in Tenerife, within three days, Spain's Health Minister said, adding that those still on board were not presenting any symptoms of the disease.
A total of eight people, including a Swiss citizen who has returned home and is being treated in Zurich, are suspected to have contracted the virus, with three of them confirmed by laboratory testing, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.
WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X that the three people were evacuated from the ship on Wednesday, and were on their way to the Netherlans for treatment. Two are understood to be seriously ill.
The Dutch Foreign Ministry said these three passengers included a Dutch national, a German and a Briton.
Two of those who left presented acute symptoms, the ship's operator Oceanwide Expeditions said. The third person was closely linked to the German passenger who died on the ship on 2 May.
Dutch authorities said that person was possibly infected with the virus.
Earlier, one of the aircraft transporting two patients from Cape Verde to Amsterdam was due to stop in Morocco to refuel, but the north African nation refused to allow the aircraft to land, and the plane diverted to Gran Canaria, Spain's Health Ministry said.
While in Gran Canaria, the on-board doctor reported a problem with the patient’s life support system, and the individual is now connected to the airport's electrical supply, awaiting the arrival of a new aircraft to continue the journey, the Ministry added.
A British passenger who was removed from the ship earlier is in intensive care in South Africa.
All remaining passengers aboard the cruise ship are asymptomatic, Spain’s Health Minister Mónica García said on Wednesday.
Non-Spanish citizens will be repatriated to their home countries after the vessel docks in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, García said. They will not be required to quarantine in Spain, with that decision left to their respective governments, she told a news briefing.
She addded the 14 Spaniards will be transferred by plane to a hospital in Madrid to quarantine.
Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said that the Canary Islands is the most suitable port for the situation, noting that the WHO had requested Spain’s cooperation, and emphasised that both ethical and legal obligations require authorities to provide help to citizens.
WHO assessment and case updates
The WHO said it suspects rare human-to-human transmission of hantavirus among close contacts on the cruise ship, where an outbreak has left three people dead.
In a statement, the Spanish Health Ministry said passengers would be examined, treated and returned to their home countries.
"The World Health Organization has explained that Cape Verde is unable to carry out this operation.The Canary Islands are the closest location with the necessary capabilities," it said.
"Spain has a moral and legal obligation to assist these people, among whom are also several Spanish citizens," the Ministry added.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said on Wednesday that British citizens aboard the ship who had returned to the UK were not reporting symptoms, adding that they continued to be closely monitored.
The British agency said was aware of two people who had returned to the UK having been on board the MV Hondius. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the UKHSA was working get all British nationals affected "safely home".
"The outbreak of hantavirus is very serious and deeply stressful for those affected and their families," she said.
Cooper added that Foreign Office staff were "in direct contact" with Brits on board the vessel.
Human transmission concerns
The WHO said limited human-to-human spread may have occurred between people in very close contact, such as couples sharing cabins.
“Some people on the ship were couples, they were sharing rooms so that's quite intimate contact,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s Director of Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness.
Human transmission of hantavirus remains rare and is usually linked to contact with infected rodents or their droppings. The WHO noted no rats were found on board, suggesting infections may have occurred before boarding or during excursions.
South Africa has identified 65 people who have been in contact with people with confirmed or suspected hantavirus cases, the WHO's South Africa Representative Shenaaz El-Halabi said.
Among the victims, the Andean strain of hantavirus virus, that can in rare cases spread among humans through very close contact, has been identified by South Africa's Health Ministry.
"This is the only (hantavirus) strain that is known to cause human-to-human transmission, but such transmission is very rare and... only happens due to very close contact," the Ministry added.
The ship had been off Cape Verde in West Africa since Sunday, after the country's authorities refused permission for passengers to disembark as a precaution, citing a public health risk.
The vessel’s operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, said passengers have been confined to their cabins to limit potential spread.
Evacuation logistics and political tensions
"If we're thinking about the general interest of the passengers, what makes sense is to start doing this now," he added.
Timeline and possible source
The cruise ship departed Ushuaia in southern Argentina in March on an Antarctic expedition.
The WHO said it was working on the assumption that the Dutch couple may have been infected before boarding, while in Argentina.
The WHO reiterated that the risk to the wider public remains low and that no travel restrictions are recommended.
Hantavirus can cause severe and sometimes fatal respiratory illness, though such outbreaks are typically contained.
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