WHO: 2 hantavirus cases confirmed, 5 suspected on cruise ship

Two hantavirus cases have been confirmed and five others are suspected among people on a cruise ship stuck off Cape Verde, including three who have died, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on May 5.

The WHO said it was trying to contact passengers on an April 25 flight between Saint Helena and Johannesburg, taken by one of the sickened cruise ship passengers, who died the next day.

"As of 4 May 2026, seven cases [two laboratory confirmed cases of hantavirus and five suspected cases] have been identified, including three deaths, one critically ill patient and three individuals reporting mild symptoms," the United Nations health agency said in a statement.

During the cruise, which was travelling from Ushuaia in Argentina to Cape Verde off west Africa, "illness onset occurred between 6 and 28 April 2026," WHO said.

It was "characterized by fever, gastrointestinal symptoms, rapid progression to pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome and shock," it said, adding that "further investigations are ongoing."

WHO stressed that it assessed the risk to the global population from outbreak as "low," adding that it would continue to monitor the situation.

Passengers from Britain, Spain and the United States, as well as crew from the Philippines, were among 23 nationalities aboard the MV Hondius, which WHO said was currently carrying 147 people.

Human hantavirus infection is a rare but severe and potentially deadly disease that is primarily acquired through contact with the urine, feces, or saliva of infected rodents, WHO said.

However, human-to-human transmission has also been reported in previous outbreaks.