Passengers told virus-hit cruise ship ‘not infectious’ after first death
In the video taken by a passenger on the MV Hondius, the captain is seen saying that a man who died there died of “natural causes”.
The captain on the hantavirus-hit cruise ship appears to have told passengers on April 12 that a doctor had said the person was “not contagious.”
Three confirmed and five suspected cases of hantavirus, a rare but serious disease commonly spread by rodents, have since been identified.
Turkish YouTuber Ruhi Çenet, who was on the cruise ship and watched the announcement, told the BBC that no immediate security measures were taken at the time.
About 150 people from 23 countries are now stranded on the ship near Cape Verde, on the west coast of Africa.
Cruise ship operator Oceanwide Expeditions told the BBC that the first report of hantavirus came “after coming ashore on St Helena” and said it was “acting as we reported in our press updates” following the first case of hantavirus detected on 4 May.
