Three Die in Cruise Ship Virus Outbreak Off Cape Verde
Three people have died in a suspected cruise ship virus outbreak on a ship travelling from Argentina to Cape Verde, including a 70-year-old Dutch man who died on arrival on St Helena. A 69-year-old British national is now in intensive care in Johannesburg after falling ill during the voyage, while the ship has remained off Cape Verde for at least 24 hours.
St Helena and Johannesburg
Oceanwide Expeditions said two crew members on board are sick and need urgent care. The operator also said there has been no authorization
for passengers to disembark in Cape Verde, leaving the ship stationary off the archipelago while medical cases are handled ashore and on board.
A 69-year-old Dutch woman became ill on the ship and was evacuated to South Africa, where she died in a Johannesburg hospital. The third person who died was Dutch and their body remains on board. A South African Department of Health spokesperson said the British national became ill while the ship was travelling from St Helena to Ascension Island.
Cape Verde and the ship
The suspected illness is hantavirus, a strain of viruses carried by rodents, and local officials told the that the British national has a case of the virus. That leaves passengers and crew split across three settings: the vessel off Cape Verde, a hospital in Johannesburg, and the earlier stops in St Helena and Ascension Island.
The British passenger was transferred from a hospital in Ascension to a South African private health facility in Sandton for medical attention, adding another leg to a voyage already interrupted by illness and deaths. For anyone still on the ship, the immediate issue is whether Cape Verde authorities will allow disembarkation while the vessel stays where it is.
Oceanwide Expeditions
Oceanwide Expeditions has said two crew members need medical care, but the ship has not been cleared to unload passengers in Cape Verde. The next practical step for the voyage now rests with the authorities and the operator: whether passengers can leave the vessel, and how the remaining sick crew members are treated before the ship moves on.
