Health

The hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius was due to dock in Rotterdam for disinfection on Monday morning, as Dutch authorities prepared quarantine arrangements for remaining crew and medical staff following a multi-country outbreak that has killed three people and triggered global monitoring. ]

The number of confirmed hantavirus cases from the Hondius cruise ship outbreak stands at eleven, three of whom have died. In France, a woman who tested positive remains in hospital in critical condition… while twenty two close contacts are being monitored and have so far tested negative. Health officials say the risk to the general public remains low because the virus does not easily spread between people, and for the time being, has not mutated. Story by Emerald Maxwell. ]

In the span of two weeks, the MV Hondius incident and an outbreak of gastroenteritis on board a cruise ship off the coast of Bordeaux, some people might be tempted to postpone their cruise. But what makes these mastodons such fertile ground for infection? Story by France 2 and Antonia Kerrigan. ]

FRANCE 24 spoke to virologist Muhammad Munir from Lancaster University about the risks of hantavirus transmission, the virus’s long incubation period, and why health experts say a Covid-style scenario remains unlikely. ]

As the number of confirmed hantavirus cases from the Dutch-flagged cruise ship MV Hondius reaches 9, social media users firmly revived Covid-19 era conspiracy theories of “bioweapons” and “plandemics,” making the online rhetoric feel eerily familiar. Among these resurrected theories, the name of American billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has once again emerged. ]

Health experts say a hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship should not be compared to Covid-19, despite growing public concern and online misinformation. Professor of Medecine Paul Hunter of the University of East Anglia said the virus is well known, spreads only through close contact, and poses “very little risk” to the wider public, even as passengers continue to be monitored after disembarking in the Canary Islands. ]

Passengers started disembarking on Sunday from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship anchored off Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands, hours after arriving there as evacuation plans got underway. ]

Nadia Massih is pleased to welcome Adam Taylor, Professor of Anatomy at Lancaster University. Global health fears can spread faster than viruses themselves, and so clarity becomes as vital as containment. Professor Taylor, a specialist in the hantavirus, offers an evidence-based perspective on a concerning outbreak aboard a cruise ship near Cape Verde. Balancing scientific rigor with public concern, the professor resists alarmism. He underscores that “this virus is not known for human-to-human transmission” and insists that “the risk is incredibly low,” even as investigations continue. ]

As the Hantavirus-ridden vessel heads for the Spanish Canary islands with 140 passengers on board, a second cruise ship passenger has tested positive in a Dutch hospital. It emerged on Thursday that dozens of passengers disembarked the ship nearly two weeks after a man died on board, leaving health professionals to track where the virus came from, and where it might have gone since. Story by Antonia Kerrigan. ]

Hantavirus, which is being linked to deaths on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean, circulates in rodents and can be deadly when transmitted to humans. Dutch cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions confirmed on Monday it was dealing with "a serious medical situation" on board the MV Hondius, travelling from Argentina to Cape Verde. FRANCE 24's Sharon Gaffney speaks with Nicolas Locker, Professor of Virology at the Pirbright Institute in the UK. ]