WHO Investigates 3 Deaths on MV Hondius Hantavirus Bateau De Croisiere
Three people died and three others became seriously ill aboard the MV Hondius during a hantavirus bateau de croisiere between Argentina and Cape Verde, prompting a World Health Organization investigation after a hospitalized passenger in Johannesburg tested positive for the virus. The ship was in Praia, Cape Verde, on Monday, May 4, 2026, with more than 150 people aboard.
Donald Vinh, a microbiologist and infectious disease specialist at McGill University Health Centre, said the pattern points more toward exposure to rodent excretions than person-to-person spread. He said there were only six people gravely affected on the ship, a detail that argues against a wider chain of transmission among the passengers and crew.
MV Hondius in Praia
The MV Hondius was in a port in Praia, Cape Verde, on Monday, May 4, 2026. During the cruise between Argentina and Cape Verde, three people died and three others, including two crew members, developed severe respiratory symptoms. A passenger in intensive care in Johannesburg later tested positive for hantavirus, and the World Health Organization used laboratory analysis to link that case to the investigation.
That sequence leaves the ship’s route, its port call in Praia, and the Johannesburg hospitalization tied to one inquiry: where the infection came from, and how it moved through the vessel. The vessel carried more than 150 people, but only six were seriously affected, which narrows the field of likely transmission routes.
Donald Vinh on Rodent Exposure
Vinh said the cruise victims were probably infected by inhaling dust or aerosols from rodent excretions that had come aboard the ship. He also noted that hantaviruses are found around the world, including in Canada, and are mainly transmitted from wild rodents to humans.
“Les rats et les souris transportent le virus sans être malades, mais celui-ci est présent dans leur urine, leur salive et leurs excréments. L’humain peut ainsi devenir infecté s’il inhale les poussières et les aérosols issus de ces excrétions contaminées. Plus rarement, il peut aussi l’être s’il est mordu par un rongeur infecté ou a eu un contact direct avec ses excrétions, comme en ramassant des excréments,” Vinh said. He added that rats and mice can carry hantavirus without showing illness.
Rare Human Transmission Claims
Vinh said there have been very rare cases in which hantavirus was thought to spread from human to human. He cited the Andes virus in South America, which has been suspected in rare outbreaks that seemed linked to person-to-person transmission, but he said the evidence is not conclusive.
“Il y a quelques très rares cas où on croit qu’un hantavirus a pu se transmettre d’humain à humain. En Amérique du Sud, on a suspecté le virus Andes, qui fait partie de la famille des hantavirus, d’avoir été responsable de rares éclosions qui semblent liées à des transmissions de personne à personne, mais ce n’est pas très clair. Il y a toujours un doute, car il n’y a pas de preuve jusqu’à présent que c’est le cas. Et si on regarde l’ensemble des études, ce n’est pas concluant non plus. On a pu croire que c’étaient des transmissions d’humain à humain alors qu’il s’agissait d’éclosions à cause d’une source animale commune. On ne connaît pas les détails de la croisière, mais ce n’est probablement pas une transmission d’humain à humain, parce qu’il semble n’y avoir que six personnes gravement affectées [sur les plus de 150 personnes à bord du paquebot]. Autrement, il y aurait eu beaucoup plus de personnes malades sur le bateau,” he said.
Hantavirus can cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which can lead to pulmonary edema, rapid accumulation of fluid and blood in the lungs, respiratory failure and death. When patients reach hospital early, intensive care and artificial ventilation can save some of them. Another hantavirus family member, found mainly in Europe and Asia, causes severe hemorrhagic fever and kidney failure.
