Cruise ship operator Oceanwide Expeditions says 30 passengers had disembarked to visit St Helena Island before it was known that there was a hantavirus outbreak on board.
The ship’s intended route was from Argentina to the Canary Islands, travelling past several islands, including mainland Antarctica, Falklands, South Georgia, Nightingale Island, Tristan, St Helena and Ascension.
“We are working to establish details of all passengers and crew who embarked and disembarked on various stops of MV Hondius,” the company said on Thursday evening.
The vessel, which was berthed off Cape Verde after confirmation of the rat-born Andes strain of the virus, is heading to Tenerife. It is due to arrive there early on Sunday morning.
No symptomatic individuals are present on board after the medical evacuation of three patients earlier this week. There are three fatalities, a Dutch couple and a German woman, and eight suspected infections.
The company shared a timeline of its movements:
On April 1 2026, 114 guests were aboard the Hondius on departure from Ushuaia, Argentina.
On April 15, six additional guests joined the Hondius at Tristan da Cunha, located between Ushuaia, Argentina, and Saint Helena. This brought the total number of onboard guests to 120. At this time, one guest was deceased and is included in this figure.
Four of these new individuals who joined the Hondius at Tristan da Cunha were included in the original manifest of the vessel. They are of British nationality. Two were unplanned additions. At this time, their nationality is believed to be Chilean.
A total of 120 guests were on board the Hondius on arrival in Saint Helena. Of these, 30 disembarked on April 24. This figure includes the individual who passed away on board the ship on April 11.
The Andes virus is the only known variant of the hantavirus that is capable of human-to-human spread.
“The risk to the wider population remains low and transmission requires prolonged close personal contact,” the St Helena government said in a statement.
“This does not affect our planning or response. We are acting from an abundance of caution and will continue to do so. We are working closely with the UK Health Security Agency and international partners to assess and manage the situation.”
There are no people with suspected hantavirus infection on St Helena. Those who had come into contact with the passengers or crew of the ship were advised to self-isolate as a precaution.
“The risk to the wider community remains low. Everyday social contact, for example, in shops, workplaces, schools or public spaces, is not considered a known risk for spreading hantavirus. In the rare instances of person-to-person spread, the main risk is close and prolonged contact with someone who is unwell.”
The World Health Organisation is co-ordinating the global medical and contact tracing processes.
Of the three fatalities linked to hantavirus, a husband had died aboard the ship. His body was removed to St Helena and his wife had disembarked with him. She was on a flight from St Helena, en route home to the Netherlands when she collapsed.
The St Helena government said: “There is no risk to the public from the deceased passenger who passed away on board the MV Hondius on April 11. All handling procedures to retrieve the body on April 23, and store it locally prior to repatriation, met high safety standards to protect both staff and the community.”
As a precautionary measure, those who had contact with the vessel’s passengers are being monitored by medical professionals, while being in good health.
“Written guidance has been issued to higher-risk contacts currently being advised to isolate at home. This includes the required period of isolation which, in consultation with experts at the UK Health Security Agency, has been set as 45 days from the last known exposure to the virus. This means that the period of isolation will end on June 9 subject to any developments in the situation in St Helena.”
There are also St Helenians overseas, who were passengers on the outbound flight from St Helena on April 25, who have been contacted by international partners as part of the tracing process.
A hotline is operational for anyone who suspects they may have symptoms of hantavirus such as fever, muscle aches, breathing difficulties or gastrointestinal problems.
TimesLIVE
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