California monitors cruise passengers amid global hantavirus investigation
California health officials are monitoring residents who were aboard the MV Hondius as health agencies carry out a global search for passengers linked to a hantavirus outbreak that left three people dead, a Qazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
The ship, operated by Netherlands-based Oceanwide Expeditions, has been linked to an international contact-tracing effort after some passengers disembarked before all contacts could be fully identified.
Three people, including a Dutch couple and a German national, died after contracting the virus. At least eight others became ill during or after the expedition.
Health officials said California residents were among those aboard the vessel. They have not tested positive and have not reported symptoms, but remain under observation as a precaution.
Investigators are looking into whether the outbreak began before the cruise. Argentine health authorities are examining a southern region where the Dutch couple is believed to have contracted the virus during a bird-watching trip before boarding the ship.
The World Health Organization has said the overall risk to the public remains low. Hantavirus is usually transmitted through particles from infected rodent droppings and is not commonly passed from person to person.
However, officials are paying close attention because the Andes strain found in South America is known to allow limited human-to-human transmission. This differs from the Sin Nombre virus, the strain responsible for most US hantavirus cases, which is not known to spread between people.
In the United States, hantavirus infections are rare but can be severe. Between 1993 and 2023, the country recorded 890 confirmed cases, with a mortality rate above 34%. More than 300 deaths have been reported since tracking began.
California has recorded around 80 to 90 cases historically, including 24 deaths. The state averages about three cases per year, mostly linked to rural and mountainous areas such as the Sierra Nevada, where deer mice can carry the virus.
Health agencies in several countries are continuing to trace passengers who left the ship. Officials said there is currently no evidence of widespread transmission.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that the World Health Organization (WHO) had said the recent hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship in the Atlantic did not signal the start of a pandemic.
