Hantavirus Cruise Outbreak: Three Dead, Some Passengers Released From Quarantine
6 verified3 unconfirmed2 contested
An outbreak of hantavirus on the cruise ship MV Hondius has resulted in three deaths and led to the quarantine of U.S. passengers. The virus involved is the Andes strain, which can spread from person to person in rare cases. Argentine investigators are trapping rats in the forests of Ushuaia to determine the source of the outbreak. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is coordinating the quarantine and monitoring of exposed passengers. Some asymptomatic passengers have been allowed to leave a Nebraska quarantine facility to complete the remaining half of their 42-day isolation at home under strict conditions, including daily health checks. No Americans have tested positive for the virus as of the latest reports.
What’s verified
The hantavirus outbreak occurred on the MV Hondius cruise ship, which departed from Argentina in early April.
Three people have died from the outbreak, including a Dutch couple.
All cases involve the Andes strain of hantavirus, which can be transmitted between people.
U.S. passengers were quarantined at the National Quarantine Unit in Omaha, Nebraska.
As of late May, some asymptomatic passengers have been released to home quarantine with conditions such as daily temperature monitoring and no contact with others.
Argentine scientists are trapping rodents in Ushuaia to test for hantavirus, as the virus has never been recorded in that region.
Where accounts differ
One source reports 11 infected passengers (with three deaths), while another reports 13 cases reported worldwide with 11 confirmed (and three deaths). The discrepancy appears to be in the total case count versus confirmed cases.
One source states the CDC issued a health advisory on May 8 after some passengers had already arrived in the U.S. on commercial flights, and held its first news conference on May 9 — five days after the WHO alerted the public. Other sources do not address the timing of the CDC’s public response.
Not yet confirmed
The exact source of the hantavirus infection for the first victims remains unknown, though local health authorities in Tierra del Fuego reject the national government’s hypothesis that the Dutch couple visited a landfill in Ushuaia.
It is unclear how many of the 150 people aboard the ship were passengers versus crew, and whether any crew members were among the infected.
Questions remain about whether the hantavirus can be transmitted by a subspecies of the long-tailed pygmy rice rat found in Ushuaia, as scientists have never tested that population.
Key figures
Leana Wen – emergency medicine physician and former Baltimore health commissioner
Satish Pillai – leader of the CDC’s Ebola response
Emily Hilliard – HHS spokesperson
Heather Reoch Kerr – country director of the International Rescue Committee in Congo
Michael Osterholm – director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota
Dr. James McDonald – New York State health commissioner
Jake Rosmarin – passenger who chose to stay in Nebraska for full quarantine
Martín Alfaro – spokesperson for the local health ministry of Tierra del Fuego
Ron Klain – former Ebola czar during the Obama administration
Mehmet Oz – physician and head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Chuck Schumer – Senate Minority Leader
Chris Murphy – U.S. Senator from Connecticut
Dick Durbin – U.S. Senator from Illinois
Sources: kffhealthnews.org, abcnews.com, NBC News
