Hantavirus Outbreak: Luxury cruise ship stranded as WHO warns of person-to-person spread

The World Health Organization has given us a scary update about people getting sick on the Dutch cruise ship called Hondius. The experts think that the Hantavirus might be spreading from person to person on the ship.
According to the media reports, so far the virus has killed three people, and there are two people who may have the virus and five people who might have been contaminated with the virus. The doctors are still doing tests in South Africa to figure out what is going on. They think it is the Andes type of Hantavirus which can spread from one person to another.


The Ship is Stuck off the Coast of Africa
The ship called Hondius is just sitting outside the city of Praia in Cape Verde. The country will not let the ship come into the port. The ship has been in the place since Monday morning. The people in charge of the ship, Oceanwide Expeditions, want to sail to the Canary Islands, which are controlled by Spain. The ship cannot move until two sick crew members, one from Britain and one from the Netherlands, can be flown to the Netherlands to get medical help. They are both doing okay right now.

The Plan to Get People Off the Ship
The government of the Netherlands is getting a plane to take the sick crew members to the hospital. Maria Van Kerkhove, who works with the World Health Organization, said that they are talking to the government about what to do next with the ship. The Spanish Health Ministry is sending a team of doctors to the ship on Tuesday. They will try to figure out how to get the passengers home and where the ship should go.

The Ship Was on a Trip to Remote Places
The Hondius started its trip on April 1 from Ushuaia, Argentina. The ship went to Antarctica. Some really remote islands like Tristan da Cunha and Saint Helena. People on the ship started getting sick between April 6 and April 28. They had fevers and stomach problems and some of them got really bad pneumonia and had trouble breathing.


Trying to Find Out Where the Virus Came From
We still do not know where the virus came from. One man from Britain is in the hospital in Johannesburg after being taken off the ship at Ascension Island. Another woman from the Netherlands died on the way to the Netherlands and her husband died on the ship. The World Health Organization said that the virus usually spreads through rodents. There are no rodents on the ship. They think that the people who got sick might have touched something that had the virus when they were off the ship in Argentina.


Worries About the Virus Spreading from Person to Person
Because this type of virus can spread from person to person, the World Health Organization is really worried. Maria Van Kerkhove said that a lot of people on the ship are couples who share rooms, which makes it easy for the virus to spread. This is the first time we have seen a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship. Since there is no cure for the virus, the doctors can only try to make the people feel better and help them breathe. The 88 people on the ship, including 17 Americans and the 59 crew members, are all being kept away from each other. Have to follow really strict rules to try to stop the virus from spreading. They are all waiting to see what will happen next.