Dutch Flight Attendant Hantavirus Case Follows MV Hondius Exposure
Dutch authorities said a KLM flight attendant was hospitalized in Amsterdam with flight attendant hantavirus symptoms after contact with a passenger who later died. The case extends concern beyond the MV Hondius, where the outbreak began, and follows the movement of passengers through Saint Helena, South Africa, and back to Europe.
Amsterdam and Johannesburg
The flight attendant had been serving on a KLM flight from Johannesburg when a 69-year-old Dutch woman briefly boarded the aircraft on April 24. Dutch authorities said the woman later deboarded after her symptoms worsened, died in a hospital in South Africa, and later tested positive for the virus.
The attendant was then hospitalized in Amsterdam and was being tested for a hantavirus infection. The exposure link is specific: the airline crew member had been in contact with a passenger who later died, making the airline case part of the same chain that investigators have tied to the ship.
MV Hondius and Saint Helena
At least 29 passengers disembarked the MV Hondius after the outbreak on the ship, and Oceanwide Expeditions said 30 guests got off in Saint Helena on April 24. The operator also said it was monitoring the ship as it sailed from Cape Verde to the Canary Islands, a trip it expected to take 3 to 4 days.
Oceanwide Expeditions said: "No symptomatic individuals are present on board," while also saying no symptomatic people were on the vessel during the voyage. Three of the eight cases linked to the outbreak had died, including a 70-year-old Dutch man who died on April 11 and a German woman who died on board on May 2.
Cases across several countries
As of Thursday morning, eight cases had been linked to the outbreak on the ship, excluding the KLM flight attendant. Five of those were confirmed and three were suspected. At least six American citizens were among the passengers who disembarked in Saint Helena on April 24, and authorities in Georgia were monitoring two passengers who returned to the state while Arizona officials were monitoring one passenger.
The practical issue for travelers is not the ship alone but the movement that followed it. Passenger contact on board, a stop in Saint Helena, and air travel through Johannesburg created several points where health officials had to trace exposure, and the KLM case shows that chain has reached airline crew as well as cruise guests.
