After being on a luxury cruise ship during a devastating rat-borne hantavirus outbreak, an Australian has since returned home.
The MV Hondius is still anchored off the coast of Cape Verde, West Africa, carrying 149 passengers, including at least three Australians.
The ship, which was travelling from Argentina to Antarctica, asked authorities for assistance on Sunday after a third passenger—a German national—died.
Last month, an elderly Dutch couple passed away.
There are concerns that the virus may have spread to Australia because its symptoms can take up to eight weeks to manifest.
Ten days after the first known fatality on board, on April 21, 23 passengers, including an Australian, disembarked from the ship at St. Helena, a lonely island in the South Atlantic Ocean.
A Spanish passenger who is still stuck on board claims that one of the people who disembarked has now tested positive for the virus and is recuperating in a Swiss hospital.
“No one had gotten in touch with them until three days ago,” the traveller told the Spanish newspaper El Pais.
On Wednesday, medical personnel removed three passengers from the damaged MV Hondius cruise liner.
The MV Hondius is still anchored off the coast of Cape Verde, West Africa. “The Americans travelled all over North America, the Australians returned to Australia, and the one from Taiwan returned to Taiwan.” The Dutch to their houses, the Englishman to England.
Additionally, the traveller stated that it wasn’t until earlier this week—a month after the first infected passenger became ill—that the World Health Organization began contacting disembarked travellers.
Since then, Argentine officials have revealed that a birdwatching couple may have introduced the infection onto the ship.
According to investigators, a Dutch couple who later boarded the MV Hondius may have come into contact with rats carrying the deadly infection when visiting a garbage site in the city of Ushuaia to take pictures of birds.
Whether it was the same Dutch couple who subsequently perished from the illness has not yet been established.
To stop the virus from spreading, those passengers who are still on board have been told to stay inside their cabins. There are now eight cases.
The cruise ship’s docking date is unknown. “Oceanwide Expeditions remains in close and continuous discussion with relevant authorities regarding our exact point of arrival, quarantine and screening procedures for all guests, and a precise timeline,” the operator said in a statement. “We are unable to confirm the details of onwards travel for guests at this stage.”
There are currently eight cases of hantavirus on the cruise liner.
Humans contract the hantavirus from infected wild rodents, like mice or rats, which excrete the virus in their urine, droppings, and saliva.
A mouse bite, direct contact with rodents or their excrement, or breathing in contaminated dust can all result in infection.
Fever, exhaustion, and muscle soreness are among the initial symptoms that may manifest up to eight weeks following exposure.
There is no treatment, and it can lead to serious respiratory sickness.
Up to 40% of people can die from the virus.
On April 11, a 70-year-old Dutch man became the first passenger to die on board.
His remains was removed from the ship at St. Helena thirteen days after the cause of death could not be ascertained on board.
His 69-year-old wife travelled back with him, but she fell ill on the way back and passed away. The woman was found to have a hantavirus variant.
On May 2, a German passenger on the ship passed away. The official reason of their death has not yet been determined.
