Contact Tracing Goes Worldwide In Hantavirus Outbreak

A rare hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship has now potentially become more of a challenge as contact tracing is now trying to identify those who may have been exposed, according to the Associated Press.

On April 1, the Dutch ship, MV Hondius, departed Ushuaia, Argentina, on its way to Antarctica with 150 people on board. On April 6, a man became ill and died on the ship on April 11. He is now believed to be the first passenger who tested positive for the hantavirus.

On April 24, the man’s body was moved off the ship. On that date, his wife also departed the ship and traveled to South Africa, where she died of the virus two days later.

Right now, per multiple reports, it’s believed that this Dutch couple may have contracted the virus during a bird-watching expedition in Ushuaia before boarding the ship.

“At the time, it had not been confirmed that these two deaths were connected to the current medical situation on board,” Oceanwide Expeditions, which owns the Hondius, said on May 4.

The hantavirus is spread by exposure to rodent droppings, saliva or urine. Its symptoms, which can begin up to eight weeks after exposure, are akin to the flu. It can cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which has a death rate of 35%, or can turn into hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome that kills anywhere from 1% to 15% of those who contract it. There is no cure or vaccine for the hantavirus, but early treatment can prevent it from becoming serious.

On April 24, more than two dozen passengers departed the ship without contact tracing. By May 3, when MV Hondius arrived in Cape Verde, four people had fallen ill, with another fatality. This is when the World Health Organization announced that a hantavirus outbreak was suspected.

The ship is now headed to the Canary Islands for disinfection after it was refused entry in Cape Verde, off the coast of Africa. The hantavirus has been identified as the Andes strain, which can spread person to person for those in close contact.

Most people first learned of the virus when it was announced as the cause of death for Gene Hackman’s wife, Betsy Arakawa. The couple was found dead in their Arizona home in February last year. It’s believed that Hackman, 95, died of natural causes after Arakawa, 65, succumbed to the virus.

Contact tracing has been initiated to identify people who may have left the ship, but the World Health Organization says this is not the start of a pandemic.

Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus told the BBC that “the public health risk [is] low,” due to the close contact required for the hantavirus to spread. In the case of COVID, transmission is via airborne particles.

The MV Hondius is expected to arrive in the Canary Islands by Sunday. There are Americans known to be on board, though numbers have been reported from four to 17. No one currently on the ship is exhibiting any symptoms, per reports, and the passengers aboard are quarantined.

“Our days have been close to normal, just waiting for authorities to find a solution,” Qasem Elhato, 31, a passenger on the MV Hondius, told AP via WhatsApp. “But morale on the ship is high, and we’re keeping ourselves busy with reading, watching movies, having hot drinks and that kind of thing.”

See social media’s ongoing reaction to the virus below.