Suspected Source Emerges in Cruise Ship Hantavirus Outbreak That Left 3 Dead

Argentine officials believe they’ve identified a likely source of the Hantavirus outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius.

According to the Associated Press, authorities suspect a Dutch couple who visited a landfill in Ushuaia, Argentina, during a birdwatching trip may have contracted the virus before boarding the ship. However, officials have not confirmed the couple as the outbreak’s patient zeros.

The couple, who have now both died from the virus, went on the expedition in mid-March and then later boarded the MV Hondius on March 20 at a port in Argentina. While the man began experiencing symptoms like abdominal pain, fever, headache and diarrhea on April 6, he eventually developed acute respiratory distress and died on April 11.

However, it wasn’t until weeks later that officials determined his death was related to the Hantavirus.

For two weeks after the Dutchman’s death, his body remained on the ship, during which time his wife became sick.

She arrived in South Africa with his body on April 25 and later died in a Johannesburg hospital.

Over the next several days, eight more passengers and crew members fell ill, and by May 2, a third passenger had died aboard the 353-foot Dutch vessel.

According to the World Health Organization, hantavirus most often spreads through exposure to contaminated rodent droppings. While human-to-human transmission can occur, it’s rare, and the agency’s top epidemic expert says the overall risk to the public is low.

Earlier this week, a passenger on the ship recorded a heartbreaking message which he shared on social media.

“What’s happening right now is very real for all of us here,” Jake Rosmarin, Boston-based travel blogger, said in a video posted to Instagram on Monday, May 4. “We’re not just a story. We’re people. People with families, with lives, with people waiting for us at home. There’s a lot of uncertainty and that’s the hardest part.”

Rosmarin concluded by saying, “All we want right now is to feel safe, to have clarity and to get home…. I just ask for your kindness and understanding.”

Rosmarin later shared an update via Instagram on Wednesday, May 6, and offered more insight into the situation on the ship.

He wrote that three passengers in need of medical care were able to disembark the ship with help from authorities in Cape Verde. Rosmarin also added that the vessel is expected to continue toward the Canary Islands, where those still onboard hope to gain access to additional testing and medical care before eventually returning home.

Rosmarin addressed what he described as “misinformation” circulating online, noting that the MV Hondius is an expedition vessel with roughly 150 people onboard and operates under “high cleaning standards” and “strict biosecurity protocols.”

Aside from the passengers who were evacuated, Rosmarin stated that others onboard were “doing well” and remained in “good spirits.”