A former passenger on a cruise ship stricken by a deadly hantavirus outbreak has been hospitalised in Zurich and has tested positive for the virus, the Swiss health ministry said Wednesday. Three other passengers, believed to have contracted the virus, have also been “evacuated” from the ship, currently anchored off the coast of Cape Verde, according to the World Health Organization. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.
Cruise ship passenger with hantavirus being treated in Zurich
A former passenger on a cruise ship stricken by a deadly hantavirus outbreak is being treated in a Zurich hospital for the disease, Swiss authorities said Wednesday.
“One person has tested positive for hantavirus in Switzerland,” said a Swiss health ministry statement.
The man was being treated at the University Hospital Zurich (USZ) and the ministry said the hospital was “prepared to deal with such cases, is able to care for the patient, and guarantee the safety of staff and all patients”. “There is currently no risk to the Swiss public.”
According to the statement, the man returned from a trip to South America with his wife at the end of April, “after travelling on the cruise ship on which there were a number of hantavirus cases”.
WHO assessment of cruise ship Hantavirus remains ‘low risk’ despite human-to-human spread
Confirmation that the cruise ship Hantavirus outbreak can spread from human-to-human does not change the World Health Organization’s (WHO) risk assessment, which remains at low risk, the U.N. body’s South
Africa representative said on Wednesday.
“No, it doesn’t change the risk assessment because … it’s primarily (spread) when one gets into contact with an infected rodent and even … human to human is (only spread) within very, very close contacts,” Shenaaz El-Halabi told Reuters in a videocall.
British, German and Dutch nationals evacuated from hantavirus-hit ship, ministry says
The three people who have been evacuated from a luxury cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak are from the Netherlands, Britain and Germany, the Dutch foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
Two of the people are sick, and one was possibly infected with the virus, the ministry said. They will be taken to specialised hospitals in Europe, it added without giving further information.
Cruise ship passenger hospitalised with hantavirus in Zurich
A former passenger on the MV Hondius has been hospitalised in Zurich and has tested positive for the virus, the Swiss health ministry said.
“One person with a hantavirus infection is currently being treated at the University Hospital Zurich,” said a ministry statement. It added that the man “returned to Switzerland after travelling on the cruise ship on which there were a number of hantavirus cases”.
What we know so far:
The MV Hondius cruise ship has been at the centre of an international health scare since Saturday, when the UN’s health agency was informed that three passengers had died and the suspected cause was hantavirus – a rare disease usually spread from infected rodents typically through urine, droppings and saliva.
Three people infected with hantavirus have been taken off the MV Hondius while the ship was anchored off the coast of Cape Verde. The three people are being flown to the Netherlands for treatment.
Health officials confirmed the presence of the rare Andes strain, the only known form of the virus capable of human-to-human transmission.
Health experts raised concern that a wider outbreak could be on the cards after a Dutch woman with symptoms left the ship and was flown on a passenger plane to Johannesburg, where she later died on April 26.
South Africa’s health ministry said that contact tracing was underway, with 62 contacts identified including flight crew and healthcare workers. The contacts will be monitored until an incubation period has passed and none have been diagnosed with the hantavirus so far.
Three suspected hantavirus cases ‘evacuated’ from cruise ship: WHO chief
Three people believed to have been infected with hantavirus have been evacuated from a cruise ship off Cape Verde, the WHO chief said, adding that “the overall public health risk remains low”.
“Three suspected hantavirus case patients have just been evacuated from the ship and are on their way to receive medical care in the Netherlands,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.
Two disease specialists heading to hantavirus cruise boat
Two doctors specialised in infectious diseases are heading from the Netherlands to the MV Hondius ship that has seen a deadly outbreak of hantavirus, its operator said.
“Two infectious disease physicians, currently en route from the Netherlands, will embark MV Hondius and remain with the vessel after its anticipated departure from Cape Verde,” said Oceanwide Expeditions in a statement.
