Hantavirus outbreak hits cruise ship off Cape Verde

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:00]Two cases of haunt virus have been confirmed after three people died following an outbreak on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean. They include one victim who died and another who is currently in intensive care in South Africa. The cause of death of the other two passengers is being investigated.

[00:00:17]The vessel operated by a Dutch company had 149 people on board from 23 countries. It left Argentina three weeks ago and was heading to the Canary Islands, but is currently sitting off the coast of Cape Verde in West Africa.

[00:00:31]Hav virus is a rare disease linked to infected rodent droppings or urine that can cause life-threatening respiratory problems.

[00:00:40]The laboratory test results of both the second patient who died tested positive of Hunter virus just like the the laboratory test of the third patient who still alive in but in critical condition and the third patient is a British citizen so is currently admitted in one of the private facilities in South Africa and receiving medical attention.

[00:01:08]Julie Shier reports from Cape Town.

[00:01:11]>> The big question here is uh exactly what caused this and that's what investigators are going to be trying to find out and to establish. What we do know is that the ship that departed Argentina in late March was traveling through some of the most remote waters on Earth, Antarctica, the Forkland, South Georgia before heading through the South Atlantic. Experts believe that exposure likely happens somewhere along that route, possibly through contact with infected rodents or contaminated material on those remote locations. I spoke earlier to South African health minister Aaron Mutuali and Professor Nadir Ismael from the NICD and infectious disease specialist Professor Veronica Akerman. Hivirus does not spread between people through casual contact and you can only get it through direct exposure to infected rodents for instance with droppings, urine or saliva. So there is no concern about wider community spread here in South Africa because one of those uh passengers has been flown in and he is at the moment in critical condition in a hospital in Johannesburg. But having said that, the strain linked to the Americas is a serious one and attacks the lungs and causes a rapid buildup of fluid that can become life-threatening very quickly and there is no vaccine and no specific treatment. The WHO is now leading this international response and they are conducting a contact tracing across every country and territory that the ship has gone through and also uh some of the evacuation flights because one of two of the passengers uh on board that ship ended up in Johannesburg. One lady did pass on in Johannesburg and the other one is at Stanton uh hospital. But for now, South African health authorities say the risk locally remains