Company says no symptomatic guests on ship

Oceanwide Expeditions, the company running the MV Hondius cruise ship, said in a statement on Thursday that all passengers with symptoms had been taken off the ship.

“No symptomatic individuals are present on board,” it said.

The three individuals who were airlifted away “are now in the care of medical professionals,” it added.

The company also said it was working to trace all passengers who had been on board and possibly had contact with the virus.

It said 30 guests had disembarked on Saint Helena on April 24. The Dutch government had reported 40 guests disembarking, with their whereabouts now unknown.

But Oceanwide Expeditions said: “These disembarked guests have all been contacted by Oceanwide Expeditions. We are working to establish details of all passengers and crew who embarked and disembarked on various stops of m/v Hondius since March 20.”

The outbreak of hantavirus on the MV Hondius cruise ship has garnered global attention and empathy for those trapped on a ship where a deadly virus has already killed several people.

We still don’t know how the outbreak started, but here is a timeline of what we do know:

• March 20: The MV Hondius departs from Tierra del Fuego with 149 people on board, sailing around the Antarctic region before returning
• April 1: The ship departs Ushuaia on the Argentinian side of Tierra del Fuego and heads north
• April 6: A 70-year-old male Dutch passenger falls ill with a fever, headache, abdominal pain and diarrhea
• April 11: The man dies — at the time the cause was unknown
• April 24: The MV Hondius docks in Saint Helena where the deceased body was removed from the boat, along with the man’s wife
• Note: On Wednesday (May 6), the Dutch government said some 40 people disembarked on the island
• April 25: The woman, also Dutch, and her husband’s body are flown to South Africa, but she starts to feel ill on the journey
• Note: The woman tried to board a flight to the Netherlands, but was taken off for being too ill
• April 26: The woman dies in hospital in Johannesburg
• April 27: A British man is airlifted to Johannesburg after falling seriously ill
• April 28: A German woman starts to feel unwell and her condition quickly gets worse
• May 2: The German woman dies — on the same day, tests give the first confirmation on hantavirus following tests on the British patient
• May 3: The MV Hondius reaches Cape Verde with three passengers, including the ship doctor, reporting symptoms — the ship is not allowed to dock and patients are not allowed to disembark
• May 4: Hantavirus is found following tests on the Dutch woman who died on April 26 
• May 5: Spain agrees to let the ship dock in Tenerife where the 14 Spanish passengers will be quarantined and the rest repatriated
• May 6: Three patients are evacuated from the ship, two were taken to the Netherlands and one was taken to Düsseldorf in Germany
• May 7: A Dutch stewardess who briefly came into contact with the Dutch woman who later died is taken to hospital after reporting feeling unwell

A Dutch stewardess has been admitted to a hospital in Amsterdam after showing possible symptoms of hantavirus, the Dutch Health Ministry said.

She had been in contact with one of the cruise passengers who died from the virus in Johannesburg, in South Africa.

The patient was put into isolation at the Amsterdam UMC and is being tested, Dutch news site Nos reported.

The deceased woman had briefly boarded a KLM flight to fly back to the Netherlands after her husband died on the cruise but was deemed too sick to fly. 

According to the dpa news agency, a person who came into contact with Hantavirus on the Hondius cruise ship arrived in Düsseldorf for precautionary medical testing.

The individual arrived at the infectious diseases unit of University Hospital Düsseldorf on Wednesday evening in a special transport convoy after being picked up by Düsseldorf firefighters at Amsterdam airport Schiphol.

The hospital had previously stated that the individual was asymptomatic and presumed not to be infected with the virus.

“This is a contact person with no confirmed evidence of a hantavirus infection. Admission is purely precautionary for medical evaluation,” the hospital said.

Technical teams from Argentina’s Malbran Institute will travel to the southern city of Ushuaia to conduct rodent capture and analysis operations in areas linked to the suspected hantavirus cases aboard the MV Hondius.

Argentina’s Health Ministry said these were precautionary measures and added that no hantavirus cases had been recorded in Tierra del Fuego Province since mandatory reporting began in 1996.

The ministry also said that the virus detected on the MV Hondius corresponds to the Andes strain of hantavirus.

Argentina will now send Andes virus RNA to Spain, Senegal, South Africa, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

The Andes virus RNA will allow 2,500 diagnostic tests can be performed.

The US Center for Disease Control (CDC) said it was closely monitoring American passengers aboard the MV Hondius but added that the hantavirus outbreak posed a “very low” risk to the wider public.

“Our CDC team began coordinating with domestic and international partners as soon as we were notified of a hantavirus situation,” CDC director Dr Jay Bhattacharya said.

“We understand that people are concerned and looking for information and that is why we provided clear, written health guidance to the American passengers through the State Department. The safety and health of the affected American travelers is our number one goal.”

The New York Times reported that residents in three states were being monitored for hantavirus, although none had shown any signs of illness.

“Hantavirus is not spread by people without symptoms, transmission requires close contact, and the risk to the American public is very low,” the CDC statement said.

The cruise ship hit by a rare hantavirus outbreak will set sail for the Canary Islands. The journey from the Cape Verde Islands will take three to four days. Spain has granted permission for the ship to dock in Tenerife.

Argentina’s Health Ministry said the Dutch couple who died of hantavirus had been in Chile and Uruguay before boarding the MV Hondius in Ushuaia, Argentina.

The husband died onboard the ship on April 11 and his body was disembarked in Saint Helena, while his wife, who was feeling unwell, also left the ship at Saint Helena and was later evacuated to a hospital in Johannesburg, where she died.

The Argentine Health Ministry said it was sending experts to Ushuaia to capture and test rodents for the virus “in areas linked to the route” that the pair of tourists took.

The husband-and-wife arrived in Argentina on November 27, then traveled to Chile and Uruguay before returning to Argentina on March 27 to board the MV Hondius on April 1, authorities said, without commenting on where they could have caught the virus.

But the ministry did say that the Andes strain of the virus has not been detected in Tierra del Fuego province, where Ushuaia is situated, since 1996.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said that none of ‌the ⁠British ⁠citizens onboard the luxury cruise ship had reported Hantavirus symptoms, but ‌two who returned to the UK have been advised to self isolate. 

“UKHSA is aware of two people who have returned to the UK independently having been on board the MV Hondius,” the agency said.

“Neither of these individuals is currently reporting symptoms. They are receiving advice and support from UKHSA and have been advised to self-isolate,” the agency added.

UKHSA confirmed that one British national was among three people with suspected hantavirus who have been evacuated from the Hondius to receive medical care in the Netherlands.

The agency said that of the the remaining British nationals on board, none of them are currently reporting symptoms, but they are being “closely monitored.”

UKHSA said the passengers can be repatriated once the ship docks at its next destination, provided they do not develop symptoms.

The cruise ship at the center of the outbreak, the MV Hondius, set sail from Cape Verde for the Canary Islands on Wednesday evening, according to Reuters and the Associated Press. 

It currently plans to sail for Tenerife and to dock on Saturday, at least according to the Spanish government’s stated plans. 

However, the local government in the Canary Islands has made its reservations clear and the ship is likely to be at sea for some time before it can dock in any case. 

Nearly 150 people are on board the ship, with the known medical emergencies among the passengers having been flown out for treatment in Europe.

Two patients being flown to Amsterdam need a replacement air ambulance, after their plane that landed in Gran Canaria exhibited a technical fault, according to Spanish officials speaking on condition of anonymity. 

The AFP news agency cited Spanish Health Ministry sources as saying that the plane’s doctor “reported a fault in the electrical support system” for one of the patients. “Therefore, the patient remains on the plane with the airport’s electrical supply awaiting the arrival of a new plane to continue their journey.” 

The Spanish EFE news agency, meanwhile, cited sources in the Canary Islands government similarly reporting an electrical problem, specifically concerning the patient’s isolation bubble. 

It said that this additional problem was the reason that Morocco had refused the plane access for its scheduled refueling stop in Marrakesh. 

A plane thought to be carrying at least one passenger from the hantavirus-affected MV Hondius ship has landed at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, according to both the AFP and AP news agencies. 

The air ambulance had taken off from Praia Airport. 

There’s been no official confirmation of the next steps, but the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) said in a statement that it was expecting a patient from the ship.

“The ward where the patient is being admitted is prepared to receive patients with severe infectious diseases,” the hospital said, adding that all necessary precautions to prevent further spread would be taken. 

“In addition to isolation rooms for patients, all necessary protective equipment is available for our staff,” it said. “Treatment takes place under strict isolation, in accordance with the applicable protocols.” 

It said it conducted regular drills simulating similar cases to prepare staff for such eventualities and said patients at the facility need not take any special precautions and should “continue to visit as usual.” 

An air ambulance transporting two suspected hantavirus patients from the cruise ship to the Netherlands has stopped to refuel in Gran Canaria, after being refused permission to enter Moroccan airspace. 

Spanish news agency EFE cited sources from the regional government in the Canary Islands, while an AFP reporter also observed a plane landing at the airport. 

The aircraft had originally planned to refuel in Marrakesh but was diverted to Gran Canaria. 

EFE cited its sources as saying that officials at the airport permitted the stop on the condition that nobody disembarked or boarded the plane, with ground crews seeing to the refueling from outside the aircraft.

“It is a technical stop to refuel and continue the planned journey,” EFE quoted them as saying. 

A person linked to a hantavirus case on the cruise ship MV Hondius is being taken to Düsseldorf for precautionary checks.

The University Hospital Düsseldorf confirmed that transfer would be carried out with the Düsseldorf Fire Service on Wednesday evening.

The hospital said the individual is an asymptomatic contact and there is no confirmed infection. The admission is being carried out purely as a precaution for clinical assessment and infectious disease testing.

The person is being transported by specialized emergency teams from an airport in the Netherlands, with reports indicating arrival via Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. A plane carrying at least two patients took off from Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, at about 11 a.m. local time.

An earlier Bild newspaper report said the individual headed to Düsseldorf,  who was not symptomatic, was a woman. The other two patients were crew members who had already shown signs of illness.

Three people have died in the outbreak on board the MV Hondius — an elderly Dutch couple and a German woman. A passenger has also tested positive after returning to Switzerland.

The head of the World Health Organization has said a deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship does not resemble the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told AFP on Wednesday the risk to the wider world was low and dismissed comparisons with the early COVID crisis.

The MV Hondius has been at the center of an international alert since the WHO was informed that three passengers had died amid suspected hantavirus infections. The rare disease is usually spread by rodents, though the Andes strain — now confirmed in several cases — can pass between people through close contact.

Experts have emphasized that such transmission remains uncommon and typically requires prolonged, close exposure.

Andrew Pollard of the University of Oxford told the PA News and DPA news agencies that the risk of wider spread was “essentially zero,” noting the virus rarely transmits between people and can be contained through isolation and quarantine measures.