Hantavirus cruise ship passengers return - and bring the illness with them

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]More than a hundred people from a cruise ship that were struck by a deadly rat virus have been flown all over the world. 23 different nationalities have been evacuated and sent back to their home countries to isolate after three of their fellow passengers died. Back here in the UK, 20 people are being quarantined here at Arrow Park Hospital, but only for the next 3 days. It's hoped they can be sent home for the next 6 weeks for that isolation period. Within hours of the passengers and crew leaving the MV Hondas here in Tenneref, there have been more cases of antivirus confirmed, which health officials say they're monitoring closely. Was it the right decision to send these people across the globe instead of keeping them on the ship? The Dutch flagged MV Honda cruise ship set sail from Argentina on the 1st of April. It was heading on an exclusive polar expedition around some of the world's least inhabited islands.

[00:00:55]On board were 59 crew members and expedition leaders and 88 passengers.

[00:01:01]Some of them had just been on a bird watching trip through Argentina. That's where some think this deadly outbreak started.

[00:01:08]>> The first two cases had traveled through Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay on a bird watching trip which included visits to sites where the species of rat that's known to carry and virus was present.

[00:01:23]Just 10 days into the cruise, a Dutch man died on board the ship. The captain told the other passengers it was because of natural causes and he insisted they were safe.

[00:01:34]>> Good morning everybody. Um yeah, this is my sad duty to inform you that one of our passengers suddenly passed away last night.

[00:01:50]Uh tragic as it is, it was due to natural causes we believe and also um whatever health issues he prescribing with uh I'm told by the doctor we're not infectious. So the ship is safe when it comes to >> the man's wife who left to accompany his body back home fell ill as she flew to South Africa from Saint Helina. She was among more than 30 passengers who got off the ship there, a planned stop at the British overseas territory in the South Atlantic. But two days later, the woman was also dead. She was the first to have a test confirm that she had the Hivirus.

[00:02:34]As the ship continued to sail north towards the Canary Islands, another passenger died on board, a German woman.

[00:02:41]That was the 2nd of May. A who expert boarded the ship in Cababo Verde and has been joined by two doctors from the Netherlands and an expert from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control who will stay on the ship until it reaches the Canary Islands.

[00:02:59]They're conducting a medical assessment of everyone on board and gathering information to assess their risk of infection. A week later and we're here.

[00:03:09]The Puerto de Granadilla on the south coast of Tenneref and a major operation to evacuate the passengers and the crew on board, sending them back to their home countries to isolate them. Starting with the Spanish nationals. Monica Garcia is Spain's health minister.

[00:03:29]>> The first passengers to disembark will be Spanish and the plane for their transfer is ready. The next flight will be to the Netherlands, which will be taking citizens from Germany, Belgium, Greece, and some of the crew.

[00:03:41]>> All throughout the evacuation process on Sunday the 10th of May, officials said nobody on the ship had any symptoms, but locals here on Tenneref had the reservations.

[00:03:51]>> We don't know uh the real information is and virus, is antivirus, what type of virus it is. can't say that my my trust in uh in this uh is the same like after co you know >> does it feel like the governments don't care about you >> I don't care okay of course no no it's not important the the opinion for here it's not important because h canar is apart apart no not important because uh here for the vacation not more >> the head of the World Health Organization Dr. Tedros Adon Gabriasis even flew out here to try and reassure people >> this disease is not COVID and we have said it many times as WHO and when we say this we don't take it lightly.

[00:04:46]>> And he was here watching as country after country passengers were brought ashore all of them wearing blue overalls and face coverings. Well most of them were at least. And among the evacuees were 22 people who were heading for the UK. The repatriated Brits were flown into Manchester airport and then bust here to Arrow Park Hospital on the whirl, arriving shortly before 11:00 last night. The driver wearing blue overalls and a white face mask as he drove up the entrance way. Now, many people will remember the Arrow Park Hospital here was used back in January of 2020 to quarantine the first Brits who were evacuated from Wuhan in China because of the COVID outbreak. The CEO of Arrow Park Hospital, Janelle Holmes, says this time around the process will be largely the same.

[00:05:33]>> The fact that we were the sort of the isolation center for COVID for the Corona virus before it was a pandemic that may trigger some people to feel more anxious about what that might mean.

[00:05:45]But really, this is an understood known virus that um has um that the um that can be uh managed appropriately. And so it's very very different and the risk is really really low. You've got to have really really close contact. It's not like COVID or flu or those sorts of types of viruses.

[00:06:07]>> The Arrow Park apartment block has six floors of self-contained apartments, each with their own individual bathrooms, bedrooms, kitchens, and living areas. None of the people who are quarantining here currently have shown any symptoms of Hanta virus. But if they do fall ill over the next few days, they'll be quickly relocated to a different facility. They'll be here for 3 days and then assessed as to whether or not they can spend the next 45 days after that isolating at home. Well, one person who does know the Arrow Park accommodation block very well is Matt Roar, who was part of that initial group of Brits who were evacuated from Wuhan because of the CO outbreak and quarantined here at Arrow Park. Arrow Park is perhaps one of the best places that anybody could possibly be in this situation. Every single person who looked after us during our stay there moved to heaven and earth. The reality is that you're going to be incredibly well looked after. You're in good hands.

[00:07:07]>> The UK Health Security Agency says the risk to the general public is still very low and we're keen to stress that this is not like CO. You have to have really really close contact with someone to catch Hanser virus and it simply can't pass like CO or other flu related viruses.

[00:07:25]>> So that's it. All good. People are off the ship. Nobody had any symptoms and they'd all been tested before they left Tenneref. Not quite.

[00:07:33]>> One of the the French uh repatriation case persons was uh found positive. Uh we we are expecting that, but we're not expecting f uh you know substantial further spread. So that's another case to add to the eight that the World Health Organization said there was. The news from the flight to Nebraska in the United States. Someone else had tested mildly positive on the plane, they said, and another had started to show mild symptoms.

[00:08:00]>> The two persons that were transported by the American repatriation flight, one had a an inconclusive laboratory test uh that where where one test was weekly positive, another was negative. We're about to get the results of their of the retesting for that one. So, let's wait and see on that one. There certainly could be more cases from the ship as we already saw uh amongst the the repatriation uh persons. However, uh it's even possible that one or two additional cases could pop up from onward transmission. But what our experience with with Hunto virus Andes to now up to now is is that the generations do not keep going. If we've known about this virus for for decades now and if if this were something that spreads like co we would have already had a pandemic of it decades ago and we know that that's not what's happened.

[00:08:52]The hunter virus has a long incubation period up to 6 weeks. And although this rare strain that can transmit from human to human needs close, prolonged contact, we're told, there is still a fair bit that's unknown about it, and the Australians have gone to great lengths to contain it.

[00:09:11]>> Uh we've taken a precautionary approach here and put in place at least initially a 3-w weekek quarantine order at this center. Uh obviously we will be monitoring advice uh about what should happen beyond those 3 weeks.

[00:09:26]>> People were hosed down here in Tanner before boarding their charter flights home and we are told that they were kept isolated, distanced and covered up with PPE for the whole journey. But was it the right decision to transfer these passengers all across the world to isolate at home instead of leaving them on the cruise ship? We were very worried. If you stayed longer in the ship, the situation could have been difficult. Um, you heard about the uh passenger from France who is in a very critical situation. Imagine if she stayed longer in in in the ship. There was even mental breakdown for some of the passengers. It's very difficult to stay for weeks in in a small uh container.

[00:10:15]uh you can imagine how it affects mentally and many of them are also senior citizens and they have many chronic illnesses and imagine uh carrying that for several weeks.

[00:10:30]>> This outbreak of the H virus has been deadly. A British man has been in intensive care in South Africa but is said to be improving while another has been in hospital in the Netherlands. As for the British Army, well, they've had to parachute medical experts onto the world's smallest inhabited island of Tristan Duna. That was to care for another hivirus patient who left the ship early. Three people have died and work to trace close contacts of passengers from the Envy Hondas is still ongoing. The evacuation operation here in Tenneref has been a resounding success. It's run like clockwork and health officials say they're happy that they have contained the disease. But what happens next? More than a 100 people are beginning long isolation periods now.