Cruise ship rat virus outbreak sparks CDC alert as experts warn it’s ‘hard to contain’ and American passengers are placed under surveillance

The CDC has issued an alert regarding the outbreak of hantavirus on a cruise ship that has killed three people and infected at least seven. 

The statement said: ‘The Administration is closely monitoring the situation with U.S. travelers onboard the M/V Hondius cruise ship with confirmed hantavirus. Our top priority remains the health and safety of all U.S. passengers.’ 

The Department of State is also ‘leading a coordinated, whole-of-government response including direct contact with passengers, diplomatic coordination and engagement with domestic and international health authorities.’

Concern about a wider outbreak off of the cruise ship has risen as passengers who have already disembarked from the MV Hondius have returned home to several different countries, including the US. 

American passengers are now being monitored in Georgia, California and Arizona.  

The CDC statement continued: ‘As the world’s leader in global health security, the US government is using our premier health experts to guide our response to this evolving situation. 

‘We are working closely with our international partners to provide technical assistance and guidance to mitigate risk.’

For Americans, the CDC said, the current risk is low, but the agency is urging those on the cruise ‘to follow the guidance of health officials as we work to bring you home safely.’

On Tuesday, three patients were flown to Europe for treatment. A fourth passenger, who was also infected, remains in South Africa in a critical condition.

Argentine officials have noted that a Dutch couple who boarded the MV Hondius had visited a landfill site to take pictures of birds in the city of Ushuaia, which may have exposed them to rodents carrying hantavirus.  

Hantavirus is typically spread via breathing in dust from the droppings of infected rodents, which may be disturbed during sweeping or cleaning. 

But the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned about the possibility of rare human-to-human transmission of the virus taking place on the ship. 

The hantavirus strain behind the outbreak is the Andes strain – which has been linked to previous outbreaks where the virus has spread between people.

‘Out of all the hantaviruses we know about, only one (the Andes virus) has ever been proven to spread from person to person,’ Dr Zaid Fadul, a physician and CEO of Bespoke Concierge MD, told the Daily Mail. 

‘Every other hantavirus strain stays in its rodent host and only jumps to humans when we breathe in aerosolized particles from their droppings, urine, or saliva. Andes virus is the exception.’

Fadul explains human-to-human spread of the Andes strain can occur when someone is in the ‘prodromal’ phase of illness, which means they have early symptoms like fever, muscle aches and fatigue. 

‘During this window, the virus is actively replicating in their lungs and salivary glands, and it can be spread through respiratory droplets, saliva and close contact,’ he said. 

‘What’s genuinely surprising is that viral shedding begins up to two weeks before a person feels any symptoms at all. That pre-symptomatic window is part of why this virus is so hard to contain.’