Three Die of Hantavirus on Cruise Ship Denied Port in Cape Verde

The MV Hondius departed Ushuaia, the world's southernmost city, on April 1 under clearing skies that revealed fresh snow on Tierra del Fuego mountaintops and autumn foliage near shore.

Eighty-eight passengers and 61 crew members from 23 nationalities boarded the polar-class vessel for a 35-day Atlantic expedition to Cape Verde via remote islands. As it exited the channel, passengers spotted humpback whales, dolphins, black-browed albatrosses and South American sea lions.

Boston travel blogger Jake Rosmarin posted on Instagram that the trip would be "something I’ll carry with me forever" and was "off to an incredible start."

More than a month later, three passengers had died from hantavirus, a disease with no cure and high mortality. After stops at South Georgia, Tristan da Cunha and St Helena, the ship reached Cape Verde, but authorities barred passengers from disembarking.

On Monday, a tearful Rosmarin posted a video shared worldwide. "We’re not just a story, we’re not just headlines, we are people – people with families, with lives, with people waiting for us at home," he said. "There’s a lot of uncertainty, and that’s the hardest part. All we want right now is to feel safe, to have clarity and to get home."

Six years after Covid outbreaks left cruise ships seeking ports, the Hondius and hantavirus drew global attention. Unlike Covid-19 from a novel coronavirus, this hantavirus strain is not new; rodents have long carried the virus in parts of Africa, Asia and South America.

The World Health Organization and other authorities note human-to-human transmission is very rare, keeping public health risks low. Norovirus, flu and Covid outbreaks are common on cruises, but this is the first recorded hantavirus case aboard a ship. The WHO says it kills up to half of victims.

Public health officials and the cruise industry will monitor passengers after disembarkation and watch for wider effects.

The first death was a 70-year-old Dutchman who fell ill with respiratory symptoms on April 6 and died five days later. Captain Jan Dobrogowski told passengers it appeared due to natural causes.

His body was removed at St Helena on April 24, where his 69-year-old wife also left the ship. Three days later at Ascension Island, she had died after falling ill ashore. That day, a British man fell seriously ill aboard and was evacuated to South Africa.

Last Saturday, an 80-year-old German woman died onboard. South African specialists then identified hantavirus in the British man.

University of Limerick public health assistant professor Vikram Niranjan said cruises combine close contact, shared dining, enclosed spaces and systems that aid transmission. But ships aid control too, with known populations for case-finding, tracing, isolation and cleaning.

Despite mooring offshore over three days, Cape Verde denied docking at Praia to protect locals. A medical team boarded to check symptomatic patients.

The Canary Islands initially resisted. After WHO talks, Spain allowed anchoring off Tenerife until passengers disembark. The ship left for Granadilla port, due Sunday.

World of Cruising content head Raphael Giacardi called it unusual, with ports acting amid unfamiliarity. Cruise lines have tightened protocols since Covid to manage outbreaks and reputation.

Jordanian influencer Kasem Hato, posting as Ibn Hattuta, said media overblew it. "Most of the people on the ship are taking the matter very quietly," he wrote on Instagram. "This is not a new virus in the world. If it wanted to become an epidemic, it would have been a long time ago."

Three were evacuated Wednesday, including British photographer Martin Anstee, airlifted to isolation in the Netherlands. His wife Nicola told the Daily Telegraph it was "a very traumatic few days." "He’s relieved to be off the ship," she said. "He had it quite mild then it got a bit more serious and now he’s stable again."

A female KLM air steward was hospitalized after contact with the Dutch woman in Johannesburg.

The British man in South Africa was improving in intensive care, WHO epidemic director Maria Van Kerkhove said Thursday.

Authorities trace 29 passengers of 12 nationalities from St Helena. A third British national in Tristan da Cunha had suspected hantavirus Friday.

UK Health Security Agency chief scientific officer Robin May said 23 Britons aboard – 19 passengers, four crew – may self-isolate 45 days on return.

Risks to global populations remain low. "This is not the start of an epidemic. This is not the start of a pandemic. This is not Covid," Van Kerkhove said Thursday. "We completely understand why these questions are coming … but this is not the same situation we were in six years ago."

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said morale had "improved significantly since the ship started moving again."

Spain’s civil protection head said evacuees will stay aboard until planes arrive, then move in isolated vehicles to fenced airport areas with no contact.