WHO confirms Andes strain of hantavirus in cruise ship passengers, with 3 transferred from ship for treatment

wellness authorities feature identified the Andes tense of hantavirus, which tin be transmitted from soul to person, in passengers who were on a cruise ship at the centre of a deadly outbreak of the rare infection, officials said Wednesday.

The South African Department of Health said in a report that the information came from tests performed on the passengers after they were removed from the MV Hondius and flown to South Africa.

One of the passengers, a British man, is in intensive care in a Johannesburg hospital. Tests were performed on the other passenger posthumously in South Africa.

The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the presence of the Andes strain had been detected as a result of work conducted in collaboration with health authorities in South Africa, Switzerland, Senegal and Argentina. That strain is found in South America, primarily in Argentina and Chile.

Meanwhile, three people disembarked the ship Wednesday as a part of a medical transfer, including the ship's doctor, according to Spain's Health Ministry. The ministry said that the doctor, who was initially scheduled to be flown to the Canary Islands, is now being sent directly home to the Netherlands "after his health had improved."

Hantavirus is spread by rodents and, more rarely, people. To date, the Andres strain is the only type of hantavirus in which human-to-human transmission has been confirmed, usually through close contact, such as by sharing a bed or sharing food, experts say.

Hantaviruses can cause cardiopulmonary issues among patients and can have a fatality rate of up to 50 per cent, the WHO says. Patients who are hospitalized can require supplemental oxygen or medical ventilation.

Doctor explains why​ hantavirus is so deadly

The WHO said hantavirus has been confirmed in three individuals who were on the ship, and is suspected in another five others.

That number ticked up after authorities in Switzerland said Wednesday a man who returned from South America and travelled on the ship has tested positive for the virus and is receiving treatment.

Swiss authorities didn't specify when exactly the patient was on board the Hondius.

A statement from the Federal Office of Public Health said that the man "returned to Switzerland after travelling on the cruise ship on which there were a number of hantavirus cases."

The ship set sail from Argentina in late March and two of the first cases on board, a Dutch woman — who died in South Africa — and her husband, had travelled in Argentina and elsewhere in South American before boarding the ship, the WHO has said.

South Africa's Health Ministry also said that contact tracing was underway, with 62 contacts identified including flight crew and health-care workers. The contacts will be monitored until an incubation period has passed and none have been diagnosed with the hantavirus so far.

Health officials have previously said the disinfection measures are being carried out on the Hondius, and that out of caution, passengers have been isolated in their respective cabins.

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday confirmed that three patients with suspected hantavirus cases have been evacuated from the ship and are on their way to the Netherlands.

"At this stage, the overall public health risk remains low," he wrote on his X account.

Three suspected <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/hantavirus?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#hantavirus</a> case patients have just been evacuated from the ship and are on their way to receive medical care in the Netherlands in coordination with <a href="https://twitter.com/WHO?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WHO</a>, the ship’s operator and national authorities from Cabo Verde, the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands.… <a href="https://t.co/olQBk6tdGk">pic.twitter.com/olQBk6tdGk</a>

The Dutch Foreign Ministry said earlier it was co-ordinating the evacuation of three patients, one of them with Dutch nationality, to the Netherlands, where they will be provided with care.

There had been some confusion about the medical transfer, though the ship's operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, had said it was scheduled for Wednesday morning.

Officials in Cape Verde in West Africa have balked at allowing the vessel to put passengers ashore because of the outbreak.

Late on Tuesday, the Spanish Health Ministry said it had been asked by WHO to take the Hondius and had given its agreement "in accordance with international law and humanitarian principles," with the ship expected to eventually dock at the Canary island of Tenerife.

The leader of the Canary Islands said he was opposed to the move and requested an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, but the decision was ultimately the responsibility of the ​central government, which supersedes regional authorities.

Human-to-human hantavirus transmission may have occurred between close contacts on ship, WHO official says

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