The MV Hondius, a specialist polar cruise ship, is currently anchored off the coast of Praia, Cape Verde, after being denied entry by local health authorities. The vessel is the center of a rare and deadly hantavirus outbreak that has claimed three lives and left several others seriously ill. While initial reports suggested thousands were trapped, current manifests show 149 people (including 23 nationalities) on board. The situation is extremely volatile as the ship has become a “floating quarantine” in the South Atlantic.
The ship’s doctor is one of the crew members who has come down with the illness. A sick on-board doctor makes the plight of the remaining passengers even worse.
Also, the female who died in Jo’Burg had collapsed while in departures at Tambo International Airport, and was presumably infectious at the time. Contact tracing must be a nightmare.
3 dead, 3+ ill Includes a Dutch couple and a British passenger in critical condition
“CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — A suspected outbreak of the rare hantavirus infection on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean killed three people, including an elderly married couple, and sickened at least three others, the World Health Organization and South Africa’s Department of Health said Sunday.
In a statement to The Associated Press, WHO said an investigation was underway but that at least one case of hantavirus had been confirmed. One of the patients was in intensive care in a South African hospital, the U.N.’s health agency said, and it was working with authorities to evacuate two other passengers with symptoms from the ship.”
Port of Praia refused the vessel on technical and epidemiological grounds
“Nairobi/Brussels, May 4 (EFE).- A cruise ship affected by a suspected hantavirus outbreak is considering disembarking passengers in Spain’s Canary Islands after Cape Verde refused it entry on public health grounds, the vessel’s operator said Monday.
The vessel’s operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, said options under consideration include Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Tenerife, where further medical examinations and case management could be carried out.”
One lab-confirmed case in Johannesburg; WHO conducting sequencing
Operator Oceanwide Expeditions is negotiating for Las Palmas or Tenerife