Hantavirus Outbreak On Luxury Cruise Ship: 2 Indian Crew Members Onboard

At least two Indian nationals are part of the crew of the Dutch vessel MV Hondius which reported a hantavirus outbreak with five confirmed cases and three deaths so far, according to the BBC.

Two Indian nationals among 150 are part of the crew on the MV Hondius luxury cruise, which reported a hantavirus outbreak. At least 3 deaths are reported so far with 5 other confirmed cases, according to the BBC.

The MV Hondius began its expedition on April 1 from Argentina and is expected to arrive in Spain’s Canary Islands on May 10. The journey started with passengers and crew members from 28 different countries, and 29 of them were of at least 12 nationalities, got off on the island of St Helena on April 24, according to the report.

Of the 28 nationalities onboard, 38 are from the Philippines, 31 from the UK, 23 from the US, 16 from the Netherlands, 14 from Spain, 9 from Germany, 6 from Canada, and 2 crew members from India, among others, the BBC reported.

The World Health Organization said on Thursday that five of the eight suspected hantavirus cases had been confirmed. A large international tracing operation has started to identify people exposed to the virus and control the outbreak. Several passengers have returned home on international flights to countries including UK, South Africa, the Netherlands, the US and Switzerland.

3 people including a Dutch woman (69), her husband and a German woman have died, and the cases are confirmed that they were infected with the virus.

The UN health agency has said the outbreak is not the start of a pandemic. Maria van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist at WHO, told a news briefing that the situation is not the same as six years ago with Covid-19 because hantavirus spreads through “close, intimate contact”.

Van Kerkhove said “This is not Covid, this is not influenza, it spreads very, very differently”. She said authorities had asked “everyone to wear a mask” on board the MV Hondius. Those in contact with or caring for suspected cases, she added, should “wear a higher level of personal protective equipment”.

Hantavirus generally spreads from rodent urine, droppings or saliva, but in the latest outbreak the contamination between humans was documented for the first time, the WHO said. It is still not confirmed that how the outbreak began. Investigators believe a passenger may have come in contact with the virus before boarding the cruise or while visiting remote wildlife regions during the journey.

(With PTI Inputs)