Medical teams are preparing evacuations after a suspected hantavirus outbreak left around 150 people stranded aboard a cruise ship off the coast of Cape Verde, following multiple deaths and reported infections, officials said Monday.
Three passengers — a Dutch couple and a German national — have died, while several others have fallen ill. Authorities said two individuals showing symptoms are being prioritised for evacuation. A British passenger who disembarked earlier is currently receiving treatment in South Africa.
Hantavirus, a potentially fatal disease affecting the respiratory system, is typically transmitted through contact with airborne particles from rodent droppings or urine. Human-to-human transmission is considered rare.
Health officials say there is no specific antiviral treatment, with care focused on managing symptoms, including respiratory support in severe cases.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said the risk to the wider public remains low and urged against panic or travel restrictions. However, Cape Verdean authorities have refused to allow the Dutch-flagged cruise ship MV Hondius to dock as a precautionary measure.
Passengers onboard have described growing anxiety amid the uncertainty. “We’re not just headlines — we’re people with families waiting for us at home,” U.S. travel blogger Jake Rosmarin said in a tearful video posted from the vessel.
The ship’s operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, said it is exploring options to screen passengers and arrange disembarkation at Spain’s Canary Islands, including Las Palmas and Tenerife. It is also working to repatriate two symptomatic crew members — one British and one Dutch — as well as the body of the German victim.
“Strict precautionary measures are in process on board,” the company said.
The Hondius departed from Ushuaia, Argentina, in March on an Antarctic expedition, with fares ranging between €14,000 and €22,000. The vessel travelled across multiple remote Atlantic locations before arriving near Cape Verde on May 3.
South African health authorities confirmed that the Dutch couple died weeks apart — the husband, aged 70, on April 11 on St Helena, and his 69-year-old wife after collapsing at Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport. The British patient fell ill on April 27, while the German passenger died onboard on May 2.
Experts say the source of the outbreak remains unclear. Officials from the Netherlands’ public health institute (RIVM) suggested the virus may have originated from rodents onboard or from earlier stops in South America.
Daniel Bausch, a virology expert based in Geneva, noted that certain hantavirus strains found in Argentina and Chile have shown limited human-to-human transmission.
“The link to Argentina is notable,” he said, while adding that the situation is unlikely to escalate into a large-scale outbreak.