Health officials are racing to locate nearly 40 passengers who disembarked from the MV Hondius cruise ship after a deadly hantavirus outbreak, leaving authorities with an international contact tracing challenge.
Oceanwide Expeditions, the operator of the Dutch-flagged vessel, reports that 29 passengers left the ship on April 24, nearly two weeks after the first death. Dutch officials estimate the number closer to 40.
The passengers, representing at least a dozen nationalities, have returned to home countries across Europe and Africa. One confirmed positive case is a man in Switzerland with the Andes strain of hantavirus-a rare variant capable of human-to-human transmission.
The outbreak has killed at least three people. A Dutch man died April 11, and his body was removed on St. Helena. His wife later collapsed and died at Johannesburg airport.
Argentine officials suspect the couple may have contracted hantavirus from rodents during a bird-watching tour near a landfill in Ushuaia before boarding.
Hantavirus typically spreads through inhalation of contaminated rodent droppings. The World Health Organization notes human-to-human transmission is uncommon but possible.
Additional evacuations followed, including a British man flown to South Africa and three others-including the ship’s doctor-airlifted to Europe.
With passengers dispersed across continents and limited movement records, officials in South Africa and Europe are reconstructing travel paths to identify potential exposures.