The Department of Health has moved to reassure South Africans that there is no need for panic following the deaths of tourists linked to the hantavirus aboard a cruise ship.
Authorities confirmed that three passengers from the MV Hondius, which was travelling from southern Argentina to the Canary Islands, have died after falling ill with what was initially described as a severe acute respiratory infection.
One patient, currently receiving treatment in South Africa, has tested positive for hantavirus, a rare but potentially serious disease.
According to the Department, the ship, carrying around 150 passengers and crew from multiple countries, passed South African waters during its journey. Of the cases reported, only two individuals have been within South Africa’s borders.
The first case involved a 70-year-old man who became ill during the voyage and later died after arriving on St Helena Island. His spouse, a 69-year-old woman, later collapsed at OR Tambo International Airport while in transit to the Netherlands and died shortly after being admitted to a hospital in Kempton Park.
A third patient, a British national, became seriously ill while at sea and was medically evacuated to a private hospital in Sandton. He remains in critical condition in isolation after testing positive for hantavirus.
Health authorities, working alongside the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), have initiated contact tracing to identify and monitor anyone who may have been exposed.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says a total of seven cases have been identified among passengers and crew since early April, including three deaths, one critical case and three mild infections. The WHO has assessed the risk to the global population as low.
Hantavirus is typically spread through contact with infected rodents or their droppings, and human-to-human transmission is considered rare.
The Department of Health emphasised that the situation is being closely monitored through a coordinated international response, and that current evidence does not suggest a broader public health threat.
Meanwhile, the ship is currently anchored off Praia, Cape Verde, awaiting permission to disembark.
More about the Hantavirus: What is Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS)?
The disease claimed the lives of actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy, in March last year.
