The cruise ship carrying almost 150 people at the center of a deadly hantavirus outbreak was marooned in the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday, waiting for two ill crew members and one additional patient to be evacuated for treatment.
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Some rare human-to-human transmission of the virus may have taken place on the luxury cruise ship, the World Health Organization said in an update.
At least three people have died, while there are two laboratory-confirmed cases and five suspected cases of hantavirus, the WHO said in a briefing early Tuesday.
One of the sickened crew members had mild symptoms and the other severe, the ship’s operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, said in a news release. They both require urgent medical care, the company said.
The Spanish government said in a statement Tuesday that it will accept the vessel, the Hondius, in its Canary Islands at an unspecified port, with the ship expected to arrive in three to four days from Cape Verde.
“The World Health Organization has explained that Cape Verde cannot carry out this operation,” the Spanish government said. “The Canary Islands are the closest location with the necessary capabilities. Spain has a moral and legal obligation to assist these people, among whom are several Spanish citizens.”
The government noted “several” Spanish citizens are aboard the ship.
The government also said it accepted a request from the Netherlands to receive one of the three ill patients on board, a doctor said to be in serious condition. The doctor will be airlifted to the Canary Islands.
In its own update, Oceanwide Expeditions said all three patients will be sent to Netherlands after aircraft retrieve them from the cruise ship.
After the patients are evacuated, the ship “will begin repositioning” with plans to travel to the Canary Islands, either Gran Canaria or Tenerife. Once there, the Spanish government said, passengers and crew members will be examined and transferred to their respective countries, with the process using safety precautions and “a common case and contact management protocol developed by the WHO and the ECDC [European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control ].”
Tests are ongoing in South Africa on the nature of the infection, but WHO experts suspect it is the Andes variant, which is transmissible from person to person.
Oceanwide Expeditions said that the virus was identified in a female Dutch passenger who had disembarked in Saint Helena. The passenger later died on April 27, the news release states.
The Dutch-flagged Hondius is just outside Praia, the capital city of Cape Verde in West Africa, after that country refused its request to dock there. According to the ship-tracking site MarineTraffic, the Hondius has not moved since at least Monday morning.
The cruise ship company said that most passengers are “generally composed” and the vibe on the vessel is “calm.”
“Oceanwide Expeditions is working to provide clarity and reassurance to guests and expedite their disembarkation and medical screening. Oceanwide Expeditions team members are working diligently to support all individuals on board and uphold stringent health and safety procedures as part of Oceanwide Expeditions’ SHIELD response plan,” the company said.
One passenger on the ship made an emotional video pleading for answers.
“All we want right now is to feel safe, to have clarity, and to get home,” Jake Rosmarin said.
Oceanwide Expeditions said it plans to sail to Las Palmas or Tenerife, where further medical screenings could take place. It can’t move, however, until one British and one Dutch crew member are airlifted to a hospital in the Netherlands for urgent medical care, the WHO said.
“The plan is to medevac those two individuals. That’s in the works; that’s underway. The plan is for the ship to continue to the Canary Islands. We’re speaking to the Spanish authorities,” Maria Van Kerkhove, an American epidemiologist and technical adviser to the WHO, said at the news briefing.
The evacuation is being organized by the Dutch government and will involve specialist aircraft.
The Spanish Health Ministry said it would send a team of epidemiologists to the ship on Tuesday to assess people on board. “This will help with decisions regarding repatriation processes and the ship’s route,” the ministry said.
Contact tracing is underway to identify those who left the ship during its voyage and those they may have come into contact with.
