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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has activated its Emergency Operations Centers and classified the ongoing hantavirus outbreak as a "Level 3" emergency response, the agency's lowest level of emergency activation. This announcement comes as health officials continue to monitor a cluster of hantavirus infections connected to a cruise ship that traveled from Argentina across the South Atlantic.
The outbreak involves the Andes strain of hantavirus and has resulted in at least five confirmed cases, three suspected infections, and three deaths among passengers and crew on the MV Hondius. The ship departed Ushuaia, Argentina, and visited several remote islands before reporting illnesses off the coast of Cabo Verde. The ship carried about 150 people from 23 countries.
Laboratory testing in South Africa confirmed hantavirus infection in at least one patient who remains in intensive care. Other cases resulted in deaths either on board or after evacuation to hospitals. The CDC has emphasized that the risk to the general public remains low, as human-to-human transmission of hantavirus, especially the Andes strain, is rare and usually requires close and prolonged contact.
Hantavirus is primarily spread through contact with urine, feces, or saliva of infected rodents, though limited person-to-person transmission has been documented for the Andes strain in South America. The infection can lead to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, characterized by fever, muscle aches, and sometimes severe respiratory distress. There is no specific treatment or vaccine for hantavirus; supportive care and prompt intensive care unit admission can improve survival odds.
Health authorities from several countries, including Cabo Verde, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, and the United Kingdom, are working together to investigate and contain the outbreak. Passengers and crew from the affected ship are being monitored for symptoms and advised to practice good hand hygiene, report any signs of illness, and self-isolate if symptoms develop.
The CDC will continue to provide updates as more details emerge and will adjust its response level if the situation changes. For now, the agency considers the threat to the wider population to be minimal, but is maintaining active surveillance and response efforts.