MV Honduis another casualty.

The other people on board do not have symptoms, the Spanish minister says. Spaniards will be sent to quarantine in Madrid, while non-Spaniards without symptoms will be sent home

The president of the Canary Islands says he opposes the Spanish government's plan to let the ship dock there - but ministers insist the plan to disembark in Tenerife is safe

BBC News 3 minutes ago.

This is worrying as the incubation period is up to 60 days and the source of the virus has not yet been established.

There are more than 20 different viral species, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) - almost all of them linked to infection by rodents, typically rats and mice, through dried urine and droppings.

But one strain, known as Andes virus, is thought to spread by human-to-human transmission, although very rarely. It has now been identifed in passengers on the cruise ship.

The Andes virus is mostly found in Argentina and Chile.

In late 2018, there was an Argentinian outbreak that was traced back to people who had attended a party – a single person with the virus is thought to have unwittingly spread the virus to 34 confirmed cases, with 11 deaths

BBC News

Swiss authorities have confirmed a case of #hantavirus identified in a passenger from the MV Hondius cruise ship.

He had responded to an email from the ship’s operator informing the passengers of the health event, and presented himself to a hospital in Zurich, Switzerland, and is receiving care.

How did he manage to get from the cruise liner to Zurich? What was his mode of transport and was he on a previous cruise as I thought that the ship was still quarantined?

Update from World Heath Organisation:

Swiss authorities have confirmed a case of #hantavirus identified in a passenger from the MV Hondius cruise ship.

He had responded to an email from the ship’s operator informing the passengers of the health event, and presented himself to a hospital in Zurich, Switzerland, and is receiving care.

In line with the International Health Regulations (IHR), WHO is working with relevant countries to support international contact tracing, to ensure that those potentially exposed are monitored and that any further disease spread is limited.

The type of virus in this outbreak has been confirmed as Andes hantavirus by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases @nicd_sa, South Africa and the Geneva University Hospitals @hug_ge, Switzerland.The support of the Institut Pasteur de Dakar @PasteurDakar , Senegal and the Administración Nacional de Laboratorios e Institutos de Salud@ANLIS_Malbran, Argentina has also been critical in responding to this event.

As of 6 May, there are 8 cases, 3 of whom are confirmed as hantavirus by laboratory testing.

WHO will continue to work with countries to ensure that the patients, contacts, passengers and crew have the information and support they need to stay safe and prevent spread.

BlueBelle

What a nightmare stuck on a boat indefinitely, with very ill people and a contagious illness can’t think of anything worse Never been on a cruise, never ever wanted to
Hope it gets resolved soon
Couldn’t it sail back to where it started from and have ambulances waiting to take everyone into confinement for however long the incubation period is

Ushuaia is about 8,000 kilometres from where the ship is now in Cape Verde and would take over a month.

Apparently the ship has now been given permission to sail to the Canary Islands, but it’s not yet known which one.
A great relief for all on board, I’m sure.

Incubation is up to 60 days.

Disembarkation is putting the public at risk.

I guess this needs to be dealt with the same way they dealt with the Ebola case in the UK.

What a nightmare stuck on a boat indefinitely, with very ill people and a contagious illness can’t think of anything worse Never been on a cruise, never ever wanted to
Hope it gets resolved soon
Couldn’t it sail back to where it started from and have ambulances waiting to take everyone into confinement for however long the incubation period is

I wonder if there’s a way of identifying who is and isn’t a carrier using testing?

Perhaps some well protected medical people could be boarded wearing full protective clothing and do something?

Sago

dogsmother

They must surely be brought to land sooner rather than later, they can’t just be left floating out there terrified of what is amongst them.

If they are allowed to disembark anywhere they are putting people at risk.
They need to quarantine.
The last thing we need is another epidemic.
It’s apparently the ships doctor who is now ill, this indicates the virus can possibly pass from person to person.

If so, it definitely needs to be contained.

dogsmother

They must surely be brought to land sooner rather than later, they can’t just be left floating out there terrified of what is amongst them.

If they are allowed to disembark anywhere they are putting people at risk.
They need to quarantine.
The last thing we need is another epidemic.
It’s apparently the ships doctor who is now ill, this indicates the virus can possibly pass from person to person.

They must surely be brought to land sooner rather than later, they can’t just be left floating out there terrified of what is amongst them.

Not good. Hope help is available.

Oh just awful 😞 think this is what killed Gene Hackmans wife

Thanks, it's reassuring that fingers crossed it will turn out to be a rare, known virus rather than one that's changed it's behaviour just now.
But that's not much help to the passengers.It's lovely at sea, but if you're not allowed to dock, it must feel frightening & that's before the presence of the virus on board.

Horrible situation to be in.

So sorry for them, must be scary.

Let's hope no-one else is affected and that this strain has not mutated to spread from person to person on board.

The incubation period can be up to 60 days after exposure.

The cruise company claim there are no rodents on board so passengers must have been in contact with rodent droppings at a port.

Diamond Princess all over again. Cruise ships are floating Petri dishes.

Hantavirus usually spreads from rodent droppings to humans but one strain (Andes) has human-to-human transmission under close contact. WHO is working on what has happened. The Andes strain is found in Argentina where some of the passengers had been.

There is no vaccine or specific antiviral. It has a very high mortality rate.

www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-hantavirus-situation-on-cruise-ship-heading-from-argentina-to-cape-verde/

Allira

Hantavirus cannot normally be passed from person to person although some cases have been known.

Yes I read that too, is this the one spread by rats urine?

Feel sorry for crew and passengers, hope they recover very soon

Hantavirus cannot normally be passed from person to person although some cases have been known.

Is that the new to us viral outbreak? Something perhaps to do with rodents?

I've been praying for them too Sago, it must be very frightening for them all.