Three people with symptoms of hantavirus infection on board a Dutch cruise ship anchored off Cape Verde will soon be evacuated. Ann Lindstrand, representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) for Cape Verde, told AFP on Tuesday. Dutch company Oceanwide Expeditions as the operator of the cruise ship announced that there are no other persons on board with symptoms, informs TASR.
There are currently two people on board with hantavirus symptoms and one person who was in close contact with them. Once they are evacuated, the MV Hondius can continue sailing to either the Spanish Canary Islands or the Netherlands, Lindstrand clarified. The WHO said on Tuesday morning that medical personnel boarded the MV Hondius to evacuate people from the vessel. An ambulance will take them to the airport near the capital of Cape Verde, Praia, from where they will be transported by plane.
“At this stage, no new symptomatic cases of persons other than those previously reported have been identified on board,” Oceanwide Expeditions said in a statement. On Monday, the operator confirmed the death of three passengers, who were probably killed by hantavirus. Two died on board and one after leaving it. The vessel was heading from the Argentinian city of Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego to the Cape Verde archipelago off the West African coast.
Humans can become infected with hantavirus through contact with rodents such as rats and mice, especially their urine, droppings and saliva. It can also be spread by their bites or scratches, but this is rare. WHO said that based on its information, there are no rats on board the ship. She also added that the risk to the wider population remains low.
