Industry Odisha Bureau, May 4: Following the reported deaths of at least three passengers on a cruise ship ‘MV Hondius’, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has reportedly initiated an intensive probe into the severe health risk matter as well as providing necessary medical aid to the remaining voyagers.
Issuing a press release yesterday, the Netherland-based ‘Oceanwide Expeditions’ informed that it was confronting a severe medical situation on the Hantavirus outbreak.
The press release further informed that the severe health risk issue occurred on the polar expedition ship MV Hondius reportedly off the Cape Verde which is an island nation in the Atlantic Ocean west of Africa, while it was sailing from Argentina.
Meanwhile, the WHO in its official social media X handle posted: “WHO is facilitating coordination between member states and the ship’s operators for medical evacuation of two symptomatic passengers, as well as full public health risk assessment and support to the remaining passengers on board”.
WHO is aware of and supporting a public health event involving a cruise vessel sailing in the Atlantic Ocean. To date, one case of hantavirus infection has been laboratory confirmed, and there are five additional suspected cases. Of the six affected individuals, three have died… pic.twitter.com/SqMAAZzoID
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) May 3, 2026
The WHO also informed that it was probing intensively into the Hantavirus outbreak.
Informing further, the global health agency said that the three dead were reportedly a Dutch couple (husband aged 70 & wife 69) and also a Dutch woman who succumbed to the deadly virus while undergoing treatment in South Africa’s Johannesberg-based hospital ICU.
Moreover, BBC news agency reported that, one UK national aged 69 is also in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a hospital based in South Africa’s largest city Johannesburg.
Hantavirus hogged the headlines in March 2025 following the death of Oscar-winning Hollywood icon Gene Hackman’s wife reportedly from a fatal respiratory illness linked to ‘Hantavirus’.
Pertinent to note here that, “Hantavirus disease is a severe, often fatal zoonotic infection transmitted to humans primarily through inhaling aerosolized urine, droppings, or saliva from infected rodents. Symptoms begin with flu-like signs—fever, muscle aches (thighs, hips, back), fatigue, headaches, and abdominal pain. Within 4–10 days, this rapidly progresses to severe respiratory distress, including coughing and shortness of breath, which can lead to fatal lung or heart failure”.
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