Hantavirus outbreak: Two Indian crew members onboard luxury cruise ship, their status remain unknown

Two Indian nationals are among the crew members aboard the Dutch expedition vessel MV Hondius, where a hantavirus outbreak has infected five people and claimed three lives.

According to a BBC News report, the vessel initially carried around 150 passengers and crew representing 28 countries. However, several passengers disembarked at St Helena island on April 24.

Operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, the luxury cruise ship departed from Ushuaia in Argentina on April 1 and is scheduled to reach Spain’s Canary Islands on May 10.

As per the BBC, the passengers onboard included 38 people from the Philippines, 31 from the United Kingdom, 23 from the United States, 16 from the Netherlands, 14 from Spain, nine from Germany, six from Canada, along with two Indian crew members.

India Today reported that there is no information yet on the roles of the Indian nationals aboard the ship, their medical condition, or whether they had any interaction with infected passengers.

The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed five hantavirus infections out of eight suspected cases linked to the cruise.

WHO has clarified that the outbreak does not indicate the beginning of a pandemic.

Speaking at a media briefing, WHO infectious disease epidemiologist Maria van Kerkhove said the current situation differs significantly from the Covid-19 pandemic because hantavirus transmission occurs through “close, intimate contact”.

“This is not Covid, this is not influenza, it spreads very, very differently,” she said, adding that passengers and crew aboard the MV Hondius had been instructed to wear masks.

Van Kerkhove also advised that individuals caring for or coming into contact with suspected patients should use “a higher level of personal protective equipment”.

Hantavirus is generally transmitted through rodents, but WHO noted that the current outbreak marks the first documented instance of human-to-human transmission.

Meanwhile, health officials are attempting to track passengers who recently left the ship. positive for the virus.

Among those who died was a 69-year-old Dutch woman who had tested positive. Her husband, also from the Netherlands, and a German woman were the other fatalities. Investigations into the cases are ongoing.

Oceanwide Expeditions said 29 passengers belonging to at least 12 nationalities disembarked at St Helena, a British Overseas Territory. The company also confirmed that the body of a deceased Dutch man was removed from the vessel there.

Among those who left the cruise liner were seven British nationals.