The World Health Organization reported this Tuesday that it has confirmed two cases of hantavirus and suspects another five among people aboard a cruise ship stranded off Cape Verde. The WHO added that some person-to-person transmission could be occurring between close contacts on board the affected vessel, although the risk to the general public remains low.

First modification: 05/05/2026 - 13:12 Last modification: 05/05/2026 - 13:14

Two cases of hantavirus have been confirmed and another five are suspected among people on a cruise ship stranded off Cape Verde, including three people who have died, the WHO reported this Tuesday.

The organization also noted that some person-to-person transmission could be occurring among very close contacts aboard the affected cruise ship.

"We believe that there may be some human-to-human transmission among really close contacts," Maria Van Kerkhove, director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention at the WHO, told reporters.

He added that there is a suspicion that the first person who fell ill was infected before boarding the cruise ship, which is currently anchored off Cape Verde.

The agency said the priority now is to evacuate two sick passengers and for the ship, currently held up in the Atlantic, to continue towards the Canary Islands. He reiterated that the risk to the general population remains low.

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The World Health Organization said it is trying to contact passengers on an April 25 flight between St. Helena and Johannesburg, taken by one of the sick passengers on the cruise ship, who died the next day.

"As of May 4, 2026, seven cases have been identified (two laboratory confirmed and five suspected), including three deaths, one patient in critical condition and three people with mild symptoms," the United Nations health agency detailed in a statement.

During the cruise, which was traveling from Ushuaia, in Argentina, to Cape Verde, off West Africa, "the onset of the disease occurred between April 6 and 28, 2026," according to the WHO.

The disease has been characterized by "fever, gastrointestinal symptoms, rapid progression to pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome and shock," the agency said, adding that "further investigations are ongoing."

The WHO stressed that it assesses the risk to the global population derived from this outbreak as "low" and that it will continue to monitor the situation.

Profile of cases and risks of contagion

Passengers from the United Kingdom, Spain and the United States, as well as crew from the Philippines, are among the 23 nationalities aboard the MV Hondius, which the WHO says is currently carrying 147 people.

A British passenger is in intensive care in Johannesburg and two crew members - one British and one Dutch - require "urgent medical attention," the ship's operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, said in a statement.

Three of the identified cases are no longer on the ship and four remain on board, including a German national who died on Saturday.

The first deaths among the passengers were a Dutch couple: the husband died on board on April 11 and his wife died after disembarking in Saint Helena to accompany her husband's body, according to the operator.

The WHO indicated that the woman, who left the ship with her deceased husband on April 24, presented "gastrointestinal symptoms."

"His condition subsequently worsened during a flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, on April 25," the organization said, adding that "he died on arrival at the emergency department on April 26."

"On May 4, the case was confirmed by a PCR test as a hantavirus infection," the agency stated, underlining that "contact tracing of the passengers on the flight has begun."

Hantavirus infection in humans is a rare but serious and potentially fatal disease, which is acquired mainly through contact with the urine, feces or saliva of infected rodents, the WHO explained. However, human-to-human transmission has also been reported in previous outbreaks.

This article is an adaptation of its original in English

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