the search against time to locate the “loose ends” of the hantavirus cruise

Although how much the experts insist In which the risk for the populations is very low, the fear of the hantavirus continues to travel through each of the countries through which the passengers of the MV Hondius have circulated. Actually, it’s normal. Fear is a very human emotion, which helps us be alert in situations as new as this one.

There is considerable uncertainty in this situation, especially in relation to passengers who got off the ship before the hantavirus outbreak was confirmed. However, little by little this uncertainty is fading as information about their countries of origin arrives.

Saint Helena, April 24, 2026. On April 24, 13 days after the death of the first infected passenger with hantavirus, the ship made a stop on the British island of Saint Helena. He took the opportunity to lower the body and prepare it for repatriation. His wife traveled with him, who became the second victim, after traveling to South Africa. In addition to the two deceased, it is known that on the island another 28 people got off. It was not yet known that the first victim had a contagious virusso no passenger control was carried out.

Then what? Since it became known that there was a hantavirus outbreak on the ship, attempts have been made to locate those 28 people and their close contacts. It is known that among them there were passengers of at least 12 different nationalities. There were mainly British and Americans, but also people from other countries such as Singapore, Canada or Germany, among others. The countries of origin or residence of each of them have also been taking charge. Thus, some have already achieved the goal of finding them and putting them in quarantine.

From the United States to Singapore. In the United States there are five people in quarantinespread across Texas, California, Arizona and Georgia. In Singapore too have been quarantined and to the two passengers who got off in Santa Elena. France had no citizens among that group of passengers, but has quarantined eight citizens who were in contact with one of those people on a flight from Saint Helena to Johannesburg. In short, many of these people are already under observation, although it is true that there are others to be identified and monitored.

Many of the passengers who got off in Santa Elena have already been identified.

It is not very contagious. The positive part of all this is that hantavirus is not as contagious as other pathogens with pandemic potential such as the COVID-19 coronavirus. In general, contagion between people, which only occurs with Andes variant (that of the boat), requires very close contacts. It is possible that he was a super-spreader on board the cruise ship. That is, a person from whose body a virus is transmitted exceptionally well. We saw some cases with COVID-19, for example. However, it is normal that the rest of those infected are not super-spreaders.

Furthermore, it cannot be ruled out that there were several simultaneous infections when coming into contact with mice on an excursion. It would not be a patient who is super contagious, but there could have been an initial event that caused a good part of the cases. In both scenarios, the contagion capacity would decrease over time.

dead end. Another positive point about hantavirus is that has what is known as a dead end. It cannot be contagious continuously. It is known that, at most, it usually reaches three links. That is, one person infects another, that second infected person passes the disease to a third and that’s it. The chain cuts itself. For this reason, even if some of the people who got off in Santa Elena could continue to be contagious, they would not infect many people beyond their closest contacts.

And what about those who are still on the boat? Spain is prepared to repatriate all passengers, with or without symptoms, or treat whoever is necessary. In that case, the transfer will be carried out with the necessary safety conditions so that there are no more infections. Therefore, from now on, the important thing is that these people undergo the necessary quarantines. Each country will decide how long they will be, but always taking into account that the incubation time in the most extreme cases can exceed 40 days.

Easy to detect. The genome of this virus is very well known. For this reason, the diagnosis is simple through PCR. This test will be carried out on passengers on several occasions during the quarantine, to check their evolution. They cannot be discharged without repeating it once again. That said, although it is logical that uncertainty worries us, it is important that we keep in mind the limited pandemic potential of this virus. There is a lot of work to be done to ensure that the situation does not get worse, but there are already many people working on it.

Image | CDC/Magnific | Fdesroches

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