©Jono Hirst via Unsplash
Three people on board the Dutch cruise ship m/v Hondius of shipping company Oceanwide Expeditions have died due to a respiratory infection. They became ill possibly due to hantavirus infection. Two of the deceased have Dutch nationality. They are a man of 70 and a woman of 69. This was confirmed by a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The 70-year-old man is said to have been the first to show symptoms of the hantavirus and died on the ship. His body disembarked the ship on the island of St. Helena, a British overseas territory in the South Atlantic. This was reported by AFP. The 69-year-old woman was transferred to a hospital in Johannesburg, but succumbed at the hospital not much later.
Three more passengers were also said to be very ill. One of them is a 69-year-old Briton, who was transferred to intensive care in Johannesburg. The man in question was effectively diagnosed with the hantavirus, leading the WHO to suspect that all of the cases were hantavirus infections. Two of the sick passengers were reportedly still on board.
The Dutch cruise ship was en route from Ushuaia in Argentina to Cape Verde. It is currently off the coast of Praia, Cape Verde's capital. At the present time, Cape Verdean authorities are not authorizing the disembarkation of the two sick crew members. Local health officials did visit the ship to examine the two sick crew members. This was reported by the shipping company, which further stresses that in the meantime, the Dutch authorities are trying to bring the two sick crew members back to the Netherlands.
©Jono Hirst via Unsplash - illustration image