On May 2nd, the World Health Organisation (WHO) received word that there was a cluster of passengers with severe respiratory illness aboard a cruise ship. The ship was carrying a total of 147 passengers and crew members. Eight cases of hantavirus has been identified on board the ship.
Hantavirus, the disease which has caused a deadly outbreak on a cruise ship across the southern Atlantic is carried by rodents and can be fatal to humans. Read more on hantavirus here.
The Dutch couple who sadly passed away due to hantavirus had travelled through Chile, Uruguay and Argentina before boarding the Hondius, Argentina's health ministry said yesterday.
The ministry said they had travelled to Argentina on the 27th November before making their way to Chile and Uruguay. The couple returned to Argentina on 27 March to board the MV Hondius on the 1st April.
Three people, a Dutch couple and a German national, died in the outbreak on the MV Hondius. Eight people have been identified to have contacted the virus whilst on board the ship.
Two Irish nationals are currently on board the ship which is headed to the Canary Islands. Ireland's Department of Health said plans are being developed to ensure the safety and manage the care of the two Irish passengers. Where they will quarantine will be decided on case by case and if they show symptoms they will be treated and cared for appropriately.
Professor Christine Kelly, consultant in infectious diseases at the National Isolation Unit, said that the two Irish passengers are waiting for clinical assessments. "What we do also know at the moment is that everybody on board the ship seems to be asymptomatic," she said.
Prof Kelly, told “It's a very different virus and worst case scenario if we did have a case in Ireland we're well prepared for it and the National Isolation Unit is in a good place to be able to deal with it. I think we'll need to see how people do and I also think we need to be following international guidance. We will be guided by Argentinian experts as well as experts within WHO and ECDC. Our colleagues across Europe have been working really hard on this together.”
Prof Kelly told RTE that she understood why there was a huge panic as Covid 19 had such a devastating impact on societies across the world. "I mean Covid 19 had a devastating impact in societies both in Ireland and all around the world. People are going to be hyper aware of that. Hantavirus is a very different virus to Covid 19," she said.
She explained that we have only seen infections spread on the cruise ship. Hantavirus isn't a new disease and has been infecting humans since 1990s so "we do have information on it, we do know bits and pieces about it."
It is currently believed that the Dutch couple visited a landfill during a bird watching tour and contracted the disease. Two Argentine officials said the government believes the couple could have been exposed to rodents on the trip in Ushuaia.
