This is not the next COVID, but it is a serious infectious disease.
A vessel that set out from South America in early April as a routine Antarctic expedition has become the site of something the world has never witnessed before: a hantavirus outbreak at sea, spreading its consequences across multiple continents. Three people are dead, eight have been infected, and the ship now drifts toward the Canary Islands carrying passengers whose health status remains uncertain. In the long history of disease following human movement, this outbreak is a reminder that a single exposure in a remote Argentine city can, within weeks, scatter illness across hemispheres.
- A hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius has killed three people and infected eight, with one body still on the ship as it anchors off Cape Verde awaiting passage to Spain.
- The virus likely entered the ship through a Dutch couple who visited a landfill and went bird-watching in Ushuaia, Argentina — a region that had never recorded a hantavirus case before.
- Infected passengers dispersed across continents before the outbreak was understood: one died in Johannesburg, one is in intensive care in South Africa, one is being treated in Zurich, and three have been airlifted to hospitals in Europe.
- Health authorities in South Africa are still searching for 20 unaccounted contacts — including possible flight passengers and crew — some of whom may have already traveled internationally.
- The WHO's top epidemic expert has urged calm, stressing this is not another COVID, while two Dutch infectious disease specialists have been dispatched to the ship to monitor the 150 remaining asymptomatic passengers.
- The Canary Islands' regional president is demanding emergency talks with Spain's prime minister, unwilling to accept reassurances that the ship's arrival poses no public risk.
On a Wednesday morning off the coast of Cape Verde, three passengers were airlifted from a cruise ship to hospitals in Europe. Two were in serious condition. The third had no symptoms but had been in close contact with a German passenger who had died aboard five days earlier. The ship they left behind — the MV Hondius — had already recorded three deaths and eight infections from hantavirus, with one body still on board.
The vessel had departed South America on April 1st for Antarctica and a series of remote Atlantic islands. Before anyone boarded, a Dutch couple is believed to have contracted the Andes virus while bird-watching and visiting a landfill in Ushuaia, Argentina. The city had never recorded a hantavirus case. They brought the infection onto the ship, and it spread in ways maritime history had never seen.
Hantavirus usually passes through contact with infected rodent droppings, but the Andes strain can also transmit between people. Its incubation period of one to six weeks means carriers can travel the world before showing any signs of illness. One Dutch man died aboard the ship. His wife flew to South Africa, collapsed at Johannesburg's airport, and died. A British passenger evacuated at Ascension Island ended up in intensive care in South Africa. A Swiss passenger who disembarked at St. Helena tested positive and is now being treated in Zurich, his exact route home still unclear.
Health officials across multiple continents are now racing to trace contacts. South Africa located 42 of 62 people believed to have been exposed — all tested negative — but 20 remain unaccounted for, including possible fellow passengers and flight crew who may have already traveled abroad. Switzerland said there was no current public risk but continued investigating.
The WHO's Maria Van Kerkhove urged the public not to panic. 'This is not the next COVID,' she said, while acknowledging the virus's capacity to cause severe respiratory distress in those infected. Two Dutch specialists were dispatched to join the ship, where the remaining 150 passengers were isolating in their cabins, showing no symptoms.
The Canary Islands, the ship's next destination three to four days away, was not at ease. Regional president Fernando Clavijo demanded a meeting with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, unconvinced by assurances of safety. The MV Hondius, which left South America as a routine expedition, now moved through open water trailing deaths across continents — and carrying the unresolved question of what it would bring when it finally reached shore.
A cruise ship carrying nearly 150 people sat anchored off the coast of Cape Verde on Wednesday, waiting to continue its journey to Spain's Canary Islands. Three of its passengers—a 41-year-old Dutch national, a 56-year-old British national, and a 65-year-old German national—were being airlifted to specialized hospitals in the Netherlands and Europe that morning. Two of them were in serious condition. The third had no symptoms but had been in close contact with a German passenger who died aboard the vessel five days earlier. They were leaving behind a ship where an outbreak of hantavirus had already claimed three lives and infected or sickened eight people total, with one body still on board.
The MV Hondius had departed from South America on April 1st, bound for Antarctica and a series of remote Atlantic islands. Somewhere along that route—most likely in the Argentine city of Ushuaia before anyone even boarded—two Dutch passengers contracted the Andes virus, a species of hantavirus found primarily in Argentina and Chile. Argentine officials investigating the outbreak believe the couple picked up the infection while bird-watching and visiting a landfill in Ushuaia, where they may have been exposed to infected rodents. The city and the surrounding Tierra del Fuego province had never recorded a hantavirus case before. The couple brought the virus onto the ship, and from there, it spread in ways that had never been documented in maritime history. The World Health Organization had never seen a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise vessel.
Hantavirus typically spreads when people inhale contaminated rodent droppings, but it can also pass between humans, though such transmission is rare and requires close contact. The incubation period stretches from one to six weeks or longer, meaning infected people can move through the world for weeks before showing symptoms. One Dutch man, suspected to be the first case aboard, died on the ship. His wife flew to South Africa, where she collapsed at the Johannesburg airport and died. A British man was evacuated at Ascension Island and taken to South Africa, where he ended up in intensive care. A Swiss passenger who had left the ship during a stop at St. Helena tested positive and was being treated in Zurich. The exact route he took to Switzerland remained unclear, as did the number of countries he may have passed through.
Health authorities across multiple continents were now racing to find people who had been in contact with the infected passengers. South African officials had traced 42 out of 62 people they believed had contact with the two passengers who traveled there—health workers, airport staff, and others. All 42 tested negative. But 20 people remained unaccounted for, including five who may have been on flights with some of the passengers and flight crew members. Some had likely already traveled overseas. Switzerland said there was currently no risk to its public, but the country was investigating whether the patient in Zurich had come into contact with others. The ship's operator had not disclosed whether additional people had disembarked at other ports.
Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization's top epidemic expert, sought to calm public alarm. "This is not the next COVID, but it is a serious infectious disease," she said. Most people would never be exposed to hantavirus, she noted. The real danger lay in what the virus could do to those who were infected: severe acute respiratory distress that could require oxygen or mechanical ventilation. Two Dutch infectious disease specialists were being sent to join the ship to provide clinical support. The remaining passengers and crew showed no symptoms and were isolating in their cabins. Their journey to the Canary Islands would take three or four days, Spain's health ministry said, and the arrival would pose no risk to the public.
Yet the regional president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, was not reassured. He expressed concern about the risk to the local population and demanded a meeting with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. The ship that had left South America in early April as a routine expedition to Antarctica and remote Atlantic islands had become a vessel of uncertainty, carrying asymptomatic passengers who might or might not be infected, heading toward a destination that did not want it to arrive. Behind it lay a trail of deaths and missing contacts across continents, and ahead lay the question of what would happen when it finally reached land.
Citações Notáveis
This is not the next COVID, but it is a serious infectious disease. Most people will never be exposed to this.— Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO top epidemic expert
The government's leading hypothesis is that a Dutch couple contracted the virus while bird-watching in Ushuaia before boarding, possibly exposed to rodents at a landfill.— Argentine officials investigating the outbreak
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
How does a virus that lives in rodent droppings in Argentina end up killing people on a ship in the middle of the Atlantic?
Two Dutch passengers went bird-watching in Ushuaia before boarding. They visited a landfill during the tour—that's where the exposure likely happened. They brought the virus onto the ship, and from there it spread person-to-person in ways health officials had never documented on a cruise vessel before.
Person-to-person spread of hantavirus is supposed to be rare, right?
It is rare, and it requires close contact. But on a ship, people are living in confined spaces, sharing air systems, eating in the same dining rooms. The conditions are almost designed to help a virus spread, even one that doesn't usually jump between people.
Three people died. Where were they when they died?
One Dutch man died on the ship itself. His wife flew to South Africa afterward and collapsed at the Johannesburg airport—she died there. A British man was evacuated at Ascension Island and taken to South Africa, where he ended up in intensive care. A German passenger also died on the ship.
So the virus traveled with people who left the ship. How many countries are we talking about?
At least five or six that we know of. Switzerland, South Africa, the Netherlands, Germany, Britain. But there are 20 people health officials still can't find—including five who may have been on flights with infected passengers. Some have likely gone further.
What's the incubation period?
One to six weeks, sometimes longer. That's the terrifying part. Someone can be infected, feel fine, travel across the world, and not show symptoms until they're thousands of miles away.
Is this going to be another pandemic?
The WHO's top epidemic expert said no—this is not the next COVID. But it is serious. Most people will never be exposed to it. The real danger is for those who do get infected. They can develop severe respiratory distress and need oxygen or a ventilator.