The number of cases of Hantavirus linked to a cruise ship at the centre of an outbreak has increased to 13, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday. A Spanish national who evacuated the cruise ship MV Hondius is now isolating at a hospital in Madrid, Spain’s Ministry of Health confirmed.
Following the cases confirmation the patient was transferred to the hospital’s High-Level Isolation Unit (UATAN), where they will remain under specialised medical supervision. “Spain reported a new case among the passengers who are in quarantine, which brings the total number of cases to 13,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X. Three people died, but no new deaths have been reported since May 2, according to Ghebreyesus.
“The situation remains stable. Passengers who got sick are receiving needed care, while others remain in quarantine,” Ghebreyesus said.
Over the past two all remaining passengers,, crew members and medical staff disembarked the luxury cruise liner at the centre of the outbreak.
Hantaviruses are rodent-borne viruses that can infect people and cause illness. The WHO estimates there are 10,000 to 100,000 human cases globally each year, with severity varying by strain.
Twenty-nine passengers left the ship at Saint Helena before the outbreak was identified. Among them was Miriam Schilperoord, 69 – wife of patient zero.
By the time she reached South Africa she was too unwell to board a KLM flight and subsequently died.