World Health Organization officials suspect human-to-human transmission of hantavirus on a trans-Atlantic cruise ship, which would be a concerning difference from the common way the virus is spread.
Hantaviruses are a family of pathogens spread by rodents that, if left untreated, can cause illness that progresses rapidly and results in low blood pressure, low oxygen levels, and eventually death by organ failure.
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Three people died from suspected hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, the most severe form of a hantavirus infection, while aboard Oceanwide Expeditions MV Hondius, which was sailing from Argentina to Antarctica and western Africa.
Four more passengers are suspected to be infected, with one in critical condition, according to a WHO announcement on X Tuesday morning.
Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s director for epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, said Tuesday morning that she and her team “believe that there may be some human-to-human transmission that’s happening among the really close contacts.”
“We don’t have a full picture yet,” she said, “but we have some working assumptions.”
The passenger cruise ship is currently off the coast of the West African island nation of Cape Verde, where several of the sick passengers are reportedly being treated.
WHO officials said they are preparing to evacuate two sick passengers, Dutch citizens, to the Netherlands. After that, the ship will go to the Canary Islands, part of Spain, where Spanish authorities will work with the WHO for a full epidemiological investigation.
Hantaviruses are usually spread to humans through direct contact with infected rodent urine, droppings, or saliva, rather than through human-to-human spread.
But one strain of the virus, primarily found in the Andes mountain regions of Chile and Argentina, has shown limited evidence of human-to-human transmission.
Van Kerkhoven said the WHO is operating under the assumption that the hantavirus strain is the Andean version, but epidemiological assessment is still ongoing for full confirmation. The WHO still says the risk to the general public remains low.
HANTAVIRUS: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT RARE DISEASE ON ATLANTIC CRUISE SHIP
There are roughly 200,000 cases of hantavirus-like symptoms worldwide, according to the international vaccine network Gavi.
In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates roughly 890 cases of hantavirus between 1993 and 2023, the vast majority of which occurred in the Four Corners region, where Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado meet.
