Tinshui YeungAnd
Toby Mann
AFP via Getty Images
Three people have died after a suspected hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean, the World Health Organization (WHO) told the BBC.
It reported one confirmed case and five suspected cases on board the ship MV Hondius, which was traveling from Argentina to Cape Verde.
A 69-year-old British national is in intensive care in Johannesburg, South Africa. Local authorities told the BBC he had the virus. Britain’s Foreign Office told the BBC it was monitoring the reports and was prepared to support British nationals.
The MV Hondius is operated by travel company Oceanwide Expeditions.
According to an itinerary posted on its website, the MV Hondius left Ushuaia, in southern Argentina, on March 20 and ended its journey on May 4 in Cape Verde, where it is anchored outside the capital, Praia.
It is described as a 107.6 m (353 ft) polar cruise ship, accommodating 170 passengers in 80 cabins, as well as 57 crew members, 13 guides and a doctor.
Foster Mohale, a spokesperson for the South African Department of Health, told the BBC that there were around 150 tourists from different countries on board the ship.
Before the WHO confirmed three deaths, Mohale told the BBC that at least two people had died.
He said the man, aged 70, and the woman, aged 69, were a Dutch couple.
The health official said the man suddenly fell ill, developing a fever, headache, abdominal pain and diarrhea. He died upon arrival on the island of Saint Helena, a British territory in the South Atlantic.
The woman also fell ill on board and was evacuated to South Africa, where she died in a Johannesburg hospital.
The third person who died was also Dutch and efforts were underway to repatriate their body, along with a guest “closely associated” with them, Oceanwide Expeditions said.
He also confirmed that two crew members needed urgent medical treatment, but that Cape Verde authorities had not given them permission to disembark and go to hospital.
“Disembarkation and medical screening of all guests requires coordination with local health authorities, and we are in close consultation with them,” Oceanwide Expeditions said.
Microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles told the BBC that the time between a person’s exposure to hantavirus and the appearance of symptoms could be anywhere from one to eight weeks.
“With this incubation period, are we going to see more people contracting the disease in the coming days and weeks?”
Hantavirus made headlines last year after Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman’s wife died from a hantavirus-related respiratory illness in March 2025.
