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A cruise ship is waiting for help after a suspected outbreak of rare hantavirus onboard killed 3
A Dutch cruise ship with about 150 passengers is waiting for help off Cape Verde after a suspected hantavirus outbreak killed three people.
apnews.com
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — A Dutch cruise ship with around 150 passengers on board was waiting for help off the coast of Cape Verde in the Atlantic Ocean on Monday after a suspected outbreak of the rare hantavirus onboard killed three people and left at least three others seriously ill, the World Health Organization and the ship’s operator said.
The MV Hondius, which was on a weekslong polar cruise from Argentina to Antarctica and then several isolated islands in the South Atlantic, had requested help from local health authorities after making its way to the island of Cape Verde off the coast of West Africa, but no one was allowed to disembark, the company operating the cruise said late Sunday.
A 70-year-old Dutch man who presented with fever, headache, abdominal pain and diarrhea was the first victim and died onboard while the ship was near the British territory of Saint Helena, some 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers) off the African coast, the South African health department said. His body was taken off the vessel there and was awaiting repatriation.
What to know about hantavirus
Six people on board a cruise ship were affected by suspected cases of hantavirus, and three died, health officials said. In 2025, the virus killed Betsy Arakawa, the wife of Gene Hackman.
www.nbcnews.com
No darn way I'd ever set foot on a cruise ship. There's just way too many nasties on them.
