IT·Science News
Hantavirus on a cruise ship: three dead as MV Hondius waits off Cape Verde
A suspected hantavirus outbreak on board the cruise ship MV Hondius has killed three people, the Associated Press reported on Monday 4 May in a story carried by KSAT. The ship was anchored at the port of Praia, Cape Verde, waiting for help.
The World Health Organization said that as of 4 May “seven cases [two laboratory confirmed cases of hantavirus and five suspected cases] have been identified”, L’Orient Today reported. One person was critically ill and three had mild symptoms; three people had left the ship and four remained on board, where passengers were not being allowed to disembark.
The research centre at Japan’s Hokkaido University, which tracks outbreak reports, traced the timeline: the WHO was first alerted on 2 May by the UK about severe respiratory illness, including two deaths, and lab tests in South Africa confirmed hantavirus in a patient in intensive care. The ship is Dutch-flagged.
How each outlet framed it
- KSAT (AP) — the human scene: a ship of passengers stuck at anchor after three deaths.
- L’Orient Today — the official numbers: WHO’s seven cases, two of them lab-confirmed.
- Hokkaido University — the science: by 8 May, all six lab-confirmed cases were identified as Andes virus, among eight cases in total, a case fatality ratio of 38%.
What we don't know yet: how the virus got on board, and how the passengers still on the ship will be brought home safely.