A cruise ship that left from Argentina on April 1 is currently at the center of an outbreak of hantavirus, a virus that most commonly spreads through rodent droppings and saliva. The virus causes flu-like symptoms and can lead to death.
There are eight confirmed or suspected cases aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship, including three deaths. The World Health Organization suspects hantavirus spread on board via human-to-human transmission, which is rare but can happen with certain strains of the disease; this includes a variant known as the Andes strain, which is the one that’s currently infecting passengers on the ship.
“There are multiple different types of hantavirus, and the only type that’s really ever been shown to possibly transmit human to human is Andes,” explained Kari Moore Debbink, a teaching professor in the department of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.
Debbink said the Andes strain is found mostly in Chile and Argentina, which was the ship’s port of origin. The couple who died from hantavirus traveled through Argentina before boarding, according to reports.
Experts say the average person does not need to worry about hantavirus right now.
