WHO confirms five cases of hantavirus after cruise ship outbreak and warns more could be infected – live updates

Here’s what we know so far about the situation at Hondius, which has caused international alarm since news of the outbreak emerged last weekend:

There were 149 people of 23 different nationalities on board the MV Hondius, the ship’s Dutch operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, told AFP on Thursday.

There are more than 80 passengers, with the largest groups from the UK, USA and Spain. Most of the crew is from the Philippines.

After three suspected cases were evacuated on Wednesday, the ship operator said Thursday that “there were no symptomatic individuals on board.”

The first deaths were a Dutch couple who were traveling around South America before boarding the ship in Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1.

The 70-year-old husband showed symptoms on April 6 and died on April 11. His body was removed from the ship during a visit to Saint Helena, an island in the south Atlantic, from 22 to 24 April.

His 69-year-old wife, who was not feeling well, also left the ship in Saint Helena. His health deteriorated during his flight to Johannesburg on 25 April and he died in hospital a day later, with hantavirus confirmed on 4 May.

A German passenger, who developed a fever on April 28 and turned into pneumonia, died on May 2. His body remained on the ship.

The rare disease is usually spread from infected rodents, typically through urine, feces and saliva.

Laboratory tests in South Africa and Switzerland confirmed that two patients treated in those countries had a strain of hantavirus, the only virus known to be transmitted between humans in the Andes.

There is no vaccine or specific treatment against hantavirus.

Oceanwide Expeditions said the cruise began April 1 with 114 guests embarking in Ushuaia.

After South Georgia, Tristan da Cunha and other Atlantic islands, the ship docked at Saint Helena on April 24, where 30 guests disembarked.

Hondius then stopped at Ascension Island on 27 April and anchored off Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, from Sunday until heading for the Canaries on Wednesday.

Spain’s health ministry said the ship was expected in Tenerife on Sunday and the evacuation of passengers would begin on May 11.

• What’s happening on the ship?

WHO said passengers were asked to isolate in their cabins while disinfection and other measures were taken.

A former passenger told AFP that life on the ship continued as usual after the captain announced the death of the first passenger.

“We continued to eat together… and we did not wear masks,” said Ruhi Çenet, a Turkish national who left the ship in Saint Helena.