On April 1st, the MV Hondius, a Cruise Ship operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, set sail from a port in Ushuaia, Argentina. All was going perfectly smooth until on April 6th, when an elderly Dutch passenger started experiencing symptoms such as a fever and a headache. On April 11th, he passed away at sea. The wife of the Dutch man who was trying to make her way home while in South Africa, also passed away. At this point no one was truly worried about the cruise ship just yet; that is until April 27th. On April 27th another British passenger fell critically ill and was immediately evacuated to Johannesburg. May 2nd a third passenger, a German woman, passed away on board. Everyone was wondering, what is killing these people? Is this dangerous? Should I be fearful for my own life? On May 4th they got the answers they wanted. On May 4th laboratory results came out and revealed that it is Hantavirus that is killing these people (specifically the Andes strand) but what is Hantavirus? Hantavirus is a rare but severe, often deadly, disease transmitted to humans primarily through contact with infected rodent urine, droppings, or saliva; however, the strand that is infecting these cruise ship passengers is different in that it can be spread from human-to-human.
This new information was very startling to passengers; however, the disease can only be transmitted through extremely close contact such as sharing a bed or a plate. Currently, all 150 passengers and crew are in extremely strict cabin isolation, meaning they cannot and are not allowed to leave their rooms. The ship is now en route to the Canary Islands where the passengers are hopeful that they will finally be able to get off of the ship. Currently there are not infectious passengers still on board the MV Hondius. When passengers do finally get to go home, they will have to endure a 45-day long isolation period in their homes to ensure the disease does not spread any further.
Although the Hantavirus situation can be scary, and remind people of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, it is important to remember that the disease is not air-borne, and there is truly no way to contract it unless you are in extremely close proximity with another. Do you think that the MV Hondius will make it back to land safely, or do you think there will be another case reported?
