There may be some human-to-human transmission happening among close contacts
Off the coast of Cape Verde, a rare and deadly virus has turned an expedition cruise into a vessel of grief and uncertainty. Three passengers have died and others remain critically ill aboard the MV Hondius, where health authorities now suspect the Andes virus — a strain of hantavirus capable, in rare circumstances, of passing between human beings — may have crossed an ocean hidden within travelers returning from South America. As the ship waits at anchor, refused entry to port, the outbreak reminds us how swiftly the boundaries between remote wilderness and shared human space can dissolve.
- Three passengers are dead and one British national remains critically ill in intensive care, with five more suspected cases still under investigation aboard a ship that cannot dock.
- Cape Verde has refused the MV Hondius entry to port, Spain is demanding health data before allowing access to the Canary Islands, and 82 passengers from a flight carrying a deceased traveler are being urgently traced across multiple countries.
- The WHO's working assumption — that this is the Andes virus, capable of rare human-to-human transmission — has upended the usual playbook for hantavirus response, which typically focuses on rodent exposure rather than close contact between people.
- Two critically ill crew members and a close contact are being evacuated by plane to the Netherlands, the single condition that must be met before the ship is permitted to sail north in the middle of the night.
- With an incubation period stretching up to six weeks, the clock is still running for anyone who shared a flight, a shore excursion, or a corridor with those now confirmed or suspected to be infected.
On a Tuesday in early May, the MV Hondius sat anchored off Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, carrying 147 people and a crisis that had been building since April 6. Three passengers were dead. One remained critically ill in a Johannesburg intensive care unit. The World Health Organization had confirmed two hantavirus cases and was investigating five more.
The ship had departed Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1 with 88 passengers and 59 crew from 23 nationalities. Among the first to die was a Dutch man who succumbed aboard on April 11. His wife left the ship at Saint Helena, flew to Johannesburg, and died there on April 26. A British passenger followed. The ship's operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, arranged to evacuate two critically ill crew members and a third close contact to the Netherlands by plane — the condition authorities required before the vessel could sail north toward the Canary Islands.
What unsettled health officials most was the question of transmission. Hantavirus typically moves from infected rodents to humans, but the Andes virus — the strain circulating in South America — has been documented spreading between people in previous outbreaks. The ship's operator reported no rats aboard. The WHO's working theory held that the Dutch couple had been infected during their South American travels before boarding, carrying the virus onto the ship unknowingly during its incubation period, which can last up to six weeks.
Maria Van Kerkhove of the WHO told reporters that human-to-human transmission among close contacts was a real possibility. Contact tracing extended beyond the ship itself: the 82 passengers and six crew aboard a flight the Dutch woman took from Cape Verde to Johannesburg on April 25 were asked to contact health authorities. South African researchers were sequencing viral samples to confirm the strain.
Despite the alarm, the WHO assessed the global risk as low. Still, the evacuation, the anchored ship, the closed ports, and the weeks of potential exposure ahead made plain how far the consequences of a single infection can travel — and how much uncertainty remains when a disease of the wilderness finds its way into the close quarters of human journeys.
A cruise ship carrying 147 people sat anchored off the coast of Cape Verde on Tuesday, waiting for permission to move. The MV Hondius had become the center of an unfolding health crisis that began four days earlier, when the World Health Organization learned that three passengers aboard had died from what appeared to be hantavirus—a rare and often fatal disease typically transmitted to humans through contact with infected rodents. By Tuesday afternoon, the ship's operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, had secured a plan: evacuate two critically ill crew members and a third person who had been in close contact with an infected passenger to the Netherlands, then sail the vessel north toward Spain's Canary Islands.
The outbreak had unfolded with grim precision since April 6, when the first person showed symptoms. The ship had departed from Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1, bound for Cape Verde with 88 passengers and 59 crew members representing 23 nationalities. Among the dead was a Dutch woman who had left the ship at Saint Helena, flown to Johannesburg, and died on April 26. Her husband, also Dutch, had died aboard on April 11. A third passenger, a British national, was now in intensive care in Johannesburg. The WHO confirmed two cases of hantavirus and was investigating five more suspected cases, meaning three people had already died and one remained critically ill.
Cape Verde's authorities had refused to let the ship dock, forcing it to remain anchored off Praia, the capital. Spanish authorities demanded health data before opening a Canary Islands port. The situation was, as Ann Lindstrand, the WHO's representative in Cape Verde, described it, "complicated." On Tuesday afternoon, an ambulance was scheduled to transport three people from the port to a nearby airport for evacuation by plane. Once that operation was complete, Lindstrand said, the ship would be free to sail "sometime in the middle of the night."
What made this outbreak particularly alarming was the possibility of human-to-human transmission. Hantavirus typically spreads from rodents to humans, but one strain—the Andes virus, which circulates in South America—has been documented spreading between people in previous outbreaks. Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, told reporters that while the specific virus had not yet been confirmed, "our working assumption is that it is the Andes virus." She added: "We do believe that there may be some human-to-human transmission that is happening among the really close contacts." The ship's operator had reported that there were no rats aboard, which raised the question of how the virus had arrived in the first place.
The WHO's working theory pointed to the Dutch couple's travels in South America before boarding. The incubation period for hantavirus ranges from one to six weeks, suggesting they had been infected during their time on the continent and brought the virus onto the ship. The Hondius was an expedition vessel, designed for passengers to go ashore on Atlantic islands for activities like birdwatching. That meant there could be "some source of infection on the islands," Van Kerkhove noted, though this remained speculative. South African researchers were sequencing viral data to confirm the strain.
Contact tracing had become urgent. The flight carrying the Dutch woman from Cape Verde to Johannesburg on April 25 had 82 passengers and six crew members. South African authorities asked the airline, Airlink, to notify all passengers that they must contact the health department. The incubation period meant that anyone exposed could develop symptoms over the coming weeks. Despite the alarm, the WHO assessed the risk to the global population as low. Still, the evacuation of the two crew members and the third contact represented a necessary precaution—a way to remove the most vulnerable from the ship and allow it to resume its journey while health authorities worked to understand how a disease typically associated with rodents had killed three people at sea.
Citas Notables
We do believe that there may be some human-to-human transmission that is happening among the really close contacts.— Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention
Our working assumption is that it is the Andes virus.— Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
How does a virus that spreads through rodent droppings end up killing people on a ship in the middle of the Atlantic?
That's the question the WHO is still working through. The leading theory is that the Dutch couple who died were infected during travels in South America before they boarded. They brought the virus with them, and then it spread to others in close quarters.
But if it's a rodent virus, and there are no rats on the ship, how did it spread between people?
That's the alarming part. The Andes virus strain, which circulates in South America, is the only hantavirus known to spread human-to-human. The WHO thinks that's what they're dealing with here, though they're still confirming it through sequencing.
So the ship's passengers were essentially trapped with a virus they couldn't see, in an environment where they couldn't escape.
Exactly. And Cape Verde wouldn't let them dock. Spain wanted health data first. The ship was anchored off Praia with 147 people aboard, and no one knew where it could go. The evacuation of the two crew members and the contact was the only way to break that deadlock.
What about the people on that flight from Cape Verde to Johannesburg?
Eighty-two passengers and six crew. The woman who died was on that flight, deteriorating as it flew. Now health authorities are trying to trace everyone who was exposed, knowing the incubation period could be six weeks. It's a slow-moving threat.
Does the WHO think this will spread globally?
They've said the risk to the global population is low. But that assessment could change depending on what the sequencing reveals and how many more cases emerge in the coming weeks.