A new case of hantavirus has emerged on the MV Hondius, raising concerns among health authorities regarding human-to-human transmission.
Another passenger on the cruise liner MV Hondius has been diagnosed with a hantavirus infection and is being treated in a Swiss hospital. He was on the ship for the first leg (Ushuaia to St Helena, April 1-24) of its current journey and became ill after he had already left the cruise, the spokesperson for Oceanwide Expedition, Kiki Hirschfeldt, said on Tuesday afternoon.
The passenger’s wife, who was also on the cruise, was asymptomatic and self-isolating, she added.
The latest diagnosis has brought the total tally to three confirmed cases of hantavirus, with another five suspected. Three people have died in the suspected outbreak, and several others have fallen ill.
Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi told Parliament that the two passengers who were evacuated to South Africa — a Dutch woman who collapsed at OR Tambo International Airport and later died, and a British man who is receiving treatment in a Johannesburg hospital — had the Andes strain of hantavirus, which can be transmitted from person to person. All the other hantaviruses infect humans via rodent droppings, urine or saliva.
He said this was not a new virus like the SARS-CoV-2 virus that caused the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and…