British crew member in urgent need of medical care amid suspected hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship | water transport

A British crew member required urgent medical care and a passenger from the UK remained in a critical but stable condition following a suspected outbreak of hantavirus on a luxury cruise ship in the Atlantic.

Three people died and medics scrambled on Monday to evacuate two others from the MV Hondius, which left southern Argentina in March with 149 people from 23 countries. The crisis erupted on Sunday after the World Health Organization (WHO) said it was investigating a suspected outbreak.

The luxury vessel was stranded on the coast of Cape Verde after several people felt ill, forcing crew and passengers to isolate on board.

The WHO said on Monday that seven cases of hantavirus – a disease mainly found in rodents – were either confirmed or suspected as the stricken ship was kept off the west Africa with mostly British, American and Spanish passengers on board.

The WHO said: “As of 4 May 2026, seven cases (two laboratory-confirmed cases of hantavirus and five suspected cases) have been identified, including three deaths, one critically ill patient and three individuals reporting mild symptoms.”

The UN health agency has linked the rare disease to the deaths of three people, including a married couple from the Netherlands and a German national, and blames it for sickening at least three others on the ship and sending a 69-year-old British tourist to intensive care. South Africa.

The cruise operator said in a statement on Monday that two crew members – one British and one Dutch – were still showing “acute respiratory symptoms”, one mild and one severe, and required urgent medical attention.

The ship may continue to Las Palmas or Tenerife instead, but no final port of call has been finalised.

On Monday, an American travel blogger on the ship said the hardest part was the question of what would come next for those on board. “We’re not just headlines: we’re people,” Jake Rosmarin said, fighting back tears in a video posted on social media. “People with families, with lives, with people waiting for us at home. There’s a lot of uncertainty, and that’s the hardest part.”

Cruise ship operator Oceanwide Expeditions said the first passenger, a Dutch citizen, died on April 11 and that the cause of death had not been determined on board. “On April 24, this passenger was disembarked on St Helena, with his wife accompanying the repatriation,” it said in a statement.

Days later, the company said it had been informed that a woman, also a Dutch national, had fallen ill and later died. Officials in South Africa says the woman (69) collapsed at an airport in the country while trying to return to the Netherlands. She later died in a nearby hospital.

On 27 April, another person on the MV Hondius, a British citizen, became seriously ill and had to be evacuated to South Africa. He remains in intensive care in Johannesburg, where he is in a critical but stable condition. “A variant of hantavirus was identified in this patient,” the company said.

Another passenger, a German citizen, died on May 2.

It noted that hantavirus infections, which is usually distributed through infected rodents’ urine or faeces and can lead to severe respiratory disease and death, was not confirmed in the two crew members. “The exact cause and any possible connection are being investigated.”

Oceanwide Expeditions said almost 150 people of 23 nationalities, including four Australians, were on board the ship. Although it did not specify which cruise the passengers were on, the company’s website suggests it offers 33-night or 43-night “Atlantic Odyssey” cruises on the 107-meter-long (351-foot) Hondius. From Argentina, the tours depart through Antarctica and stop at some of the world’s most remote islands.

The ship is currently anchored off the coast of Cape Verde, with passengers being informed of what happened. “Strict precautions are in place on board, including isolation measures, hygiene protocols and medical monitoring,” Oceanwide Expeditions said.

The vessel asked to dock at a port in Cape Verde, but health authorities in the country said Monday they would not authorize the docking “for the purpose of protecting national public health.”

Instead they said they were in contact with authorities in the The Netherlands and the UK over the Dutch-flagged ship. “This coordination enabled a quick, safe and technically appropriate response, ensuring the clinical monitoring of patients and the preparation of all necessary precautions, including a possible medical evacuation by air by air ambulance for patients under observation,” they added.

Oceanwide Expeditions said it was considering sailing to Spain’s Canary Islands, possibly Las Palmas or Tenerife, where further medical examination and handling could take place.

The company said it was working with the Dutch authorities to arrange the repatriation of the two crew members. “The body of the deceased is also planned to be included in this repatriation, along with a guest closely associated with the deceased,” it said, noting that the accompanying guest “was not symptomatic.”

It said the repatriation based on various authorities working together. “This repatriation depends on many factors, including the authorization and support of local Cape Verdean health authorities for the transfer of individuals requiring medical care from MV Hondius.”

The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and Environment (RIVM), which is helping with the situation, said the source of the infection remains unclear.

“You can imagine, for example, that rats on board the ship transmitted the virus,” a spokesman told Reuters. “But another possibility is that during a stop somewhere in South America, people were infected, for example by mice, and thus became ill. This still needs to be investigated.”

The WHO said on Monday that the risk to the wider public remains low and that there is no need for panic or travel restrictions. “To date, one case of hantavirus infection has been confirmed in the laboratory, and there are five additional suspected cases,” it said in an earlier statement on Sunday.

South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases conducted contact tracing in and around Johannesburg to determine whether people had been exposed to the infected passengers.

The UK’s Foreign Office said it was closely monitoring reports of the suspected outbreak. “We are in contact with the cruise company and local authorities,” he said.

Although rare, hantavirus infections can spread among people, according to the WHO. The family of viruses made headlines last year after actor Gene Hackman’s wife, Betsy Arakawa, died of a hantavirus infection in New Mexico.

In 2019, a hantavirus outbreak in southern Argentina killed at least nine people. As officials raced to stop the spread of the disease, a judge ordered dozens of residents of a remote town to stay indoors for 30 days, according to the Associated Press.