1 Japanese Aboard Cruise Ship Hit by Hantavirus Outbreak

Paris, May 5 (Jiji Press)–A Japanese is among the passengers of the MV Hondius, a cruise ship on which a hantavirus outbreak occurred during a voyage in the Atlantic Ocean, the operator of the vessel said Monday. A total of about 150 passengers and crew members are aboard the ship, according to the operator. Three of the passengers have died. While two crew members are complaining of illness, no one else on board is showing signs of infection, the ship operator said. Two people, including a dead passenger, were confirmed to have been infected with the hantavirus, which is transmitted by rodents such as rats. Infection is suspected for four other people. Hans Kluge, the World Health Organization’s regional director for Europe, said: “The risk to the wider public remains low. There is no need for panic or travel restrictions.” According to the ship operator and media reports, a 70-year-old male Dutch passenger of the MV Hondius died on April 11. His 69-year-old wife, who disembarked from the vessel with her husband’s body April 24, also fell ill and died. A German passenger died aboard the ship Saturday. A male British passenger, 69, is undergoing intensive care after being transported to South Africa. The MV Hondius, which left Argentina, was slated to arrive in Cape Verde, an Atlantic island country located off western Africa. The ship is now anchored off the coast as Cape Verde authorities refused its entry to a port in the country. Currently being studied is a plan for the cruise ship to head for the Canary Islands, a Spanish territory in the Atlantic Ocean, and for its passengers and crew members to be tested there for hantavirus infection. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]