Hantavirus cruise outbreak: 5 critical facts you need to know
4. Investigators believe the virus was brought on board before the voyage began
One of the most important findings from the investigation so far is that the outbreak likely did not begin on the ship itself. According to statements from the WHO and reports from Argentina’s health ministry, the couple linked to the earliest known infections had traveled through Argentina, Chile and Uruguay on a birdwatching trip before boarding the MV Hondius in Ushuaia, MIT Technology Review reported.
WHO officials said the first infected passenger probably contracted the Andes virus during that earlier journey through regions where rodents known to carry the virus are prevalent.
The WHO is now working with Argentine authorities to retrace the couple’s movements before they boarded the ship. Argentina’s health ministry said rodents in Ushuaia would also be trapped and tested for the Andes strain as investigators attempt to identify the likely source of exposure.
That early exposure became especially dangerous because the Andes virus has a long incubation period. The MV Hondius itself then created the kind of prolonged close contact that health officials later said was necessary for human-to-human transmission.
The exposure chain widened further once the ship reached inhabited islands. At Tristan da Cunha, one of the world’s most remote inhabited territories, passengers disembarked for tours and social visits, according to the WSJ. Travelers drank beer with island residents at the Albatross Pub. A passenger and two crew members from the vessel also gave a presentation to local schoolchildren. And local officials boarded the ship for a photo opportunity with the captain. Six new passengers also joined the vessel there before it departed again.
The next major stop was St. Helena, where 29 passengers disembarked on April 24, including the wife of the first passenger who died on board. Some passengers stayed in hotels on the island before continuing onward travel through Johannesburg and other international transit routes. Çenet, the YouTuber from Turkey, was quoted as saying that he saw the dead passenger’s wife struggling to stand upright at Johannesburg airport before she later died there.
By then, the outbreak had already moved beyond the ship itself. Another passenger who disembarked at St. Helena later tested positive in Zurich, Switzerland, according to MIT Technology Review. WHO officials later said they were receiving reports of suspected cases connected to passengers who had already traveled onward internationally. Health authorities in several countries, including the United States, Britain and Switzerland, began tracing contacts connected to the voyage.
What may have begun as a single rodent exposure during a birdwatching trip in South America had by then expanded into a public health investigation stretching across cruise passengers, remote island communities, hotels, airports and multiple national health systems.
