WHO is aware of and supporting a public health event involving a cruise vessel sailing in the Atlantic Ocean. To date, one case of hantavirus infection has been laboratory confirmed, and there are five additional suspected cases. Of the six affected individuals, three have died and one is currently in intensive care in South Africa. Detailed investigations are ongoing, including further laboratory testing, and epidemiological investigations. Medical care and support are being provided to passengers and crew. Sequencing of the virus is also ongoing. Hantavirus infections are typically linked to environmental exposure (exposure to infected rodents’ urine or faeces). While rare, hantavirus may spread between people, and can lead to severe respiratory illness and requires careful patient monitoring, support and response. WHO is facilitating coordination between Member States and the Ship’s operators for medical evacuation of two symptomatic passengers, as well as full public health risk assessment and support to the remaining passengers on board. WHO is grateful for the rapid actions and coordination. We have informed our National Focal Points according to the International Health Regulations and a Disease Outbreak News for the public will be issued.

🇬🇧🇿🇦🇦🇷 A hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship has left 3 people dead and another in intensive care. The MV Hondius, a polar expedition vessel carrying around 170 passengers and 70 crew, was sailing from Argentina to Cape Verde when 6 people became ill. 3 have now died, including what appears to be a husband and wife, while a 69-year-old Briton is fighting for his life in a Johannesburg hospital. Hantavirus is not the flu, it is a rodent-borne hemorrhagic virus with no vaccine and no specific treatment, transmitted through contact with infected rodent urine, droppings, or saliva, and with a fatality rate that can reach 40% in some strains. The WHO's warning that human-to-human transmission is ‘rare but possible’ is the part that should get people's attention. 3 deaths from 6 cases on a sealed vessel with 240 souls on board is not a reassuring ratio… The WHO is investigating, the ship is currently off the coast of Cape Verde, and 2 more symptomatic passengers may be evacuated. Source: Yahoo News

BREAKING: The Foreign Office says it is in touch with a cruise company after reports of a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean which has left three people dead. Read the latest on our live blog🔗 trib.al/zpakSKI 📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233

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