Two more hantavirus cases reported from MV Hondius cruise ship — agency

PRETORIA, May 4. /TASS/. Two more suspected hantavirus cases have been registered onboard the cruise ship MV Hondius following the disease outbreak, Reuters reported, citing the shipowner, Oceanwide Expeditions. The two new patients are crew members, citizens of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. They will soon be evacuated from the ship. According to the latest data, three MV Hondius passengers, two Dutch and one German nationals, have died of hantavirus. One more person is in critical condition in a hospital in Johannesburg. Strict measures, including isolation and special hygiene rules, are being taken onboard the MV Hondius, the shipowner stressed. The cruise liner with about 150 passengers, mostly US, British, Spanish, and Dutch nationals, sailed off from Argentina’s Ushuaia three weeks ago and is heading to the Canary Islands. The ship has made several stopovers near islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Now, the MV Hondius has approached Cape Verde but has been banned from calling at the capital city’s port. Oceanwide Expeditions is seeking permission to dock in the Canary Islands so that passengers could leave the ship. Hantaviruses are a family of viruses which can cause serious, even fatal illnesses, such as hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). People can catch hantavirus from contact with rodents, especially when exposed to their urine, droppings, and saliva.