There is a Portuguese citizen on board the cruise MV Hondius in which at least three people died following acute respiratory syndrome. A source from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed to PÚBLICO that “there are no Portuguese passengers, only one member of the crew with Portuguese nationality”. The citizen “is doing well” and the Government has not, until now, received “any request for support”.
The Dutch ship Hondius entered Cape Verde waters this SundayMay 3, and the archipelago’s health authorities are following it after international notification of an outbreak of respiratory disease on board, with the occurrence of serious cases and deaths. The vessel was connecting Ushuaia, in Argentina, from where it left in March, and the Canary Islands, in Spain.
According to information transmitted to Cape Verdean authorities, the ship was in the South Atlantic visiting several islands for wildlife observation tourism. The agency, which had access to the company’s documentation, says that the trip was marketed as an expedition to Antarctica, with prices ranging between 14 thousand and 22 thousand euros. The ship passed by the Falkland, South Georgia and Nightingale Islands and the archipelago of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha before arriving in the waters of Cape Verde, on the 3rd of May.
This Monday, May 4th, the Cape Verde Ministry of Health reported that three people show symptoms, but they are stable. At least one case of hantavirus, a rare group of viruses associated mainly with rodents, has been confirmed in the laboratory, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). When they reach humans, the main consequences of these viruses can be failures in the lungs or kidneys, leading to death scenarios if there is no treatment adequate.
“The vessel carries 147 people, including passengers and crew” and, “of this total, three people present symptoms and were duly evaluated and assisted by a health team, and are currently clinically stable”, the ministry detailed, in a statement, about the situation on board.
The boat with people of various nationalities (most of them British, North American and Spanish) remains stopped at the entrance to the port of Praia, without authorization to disembark and receiving assistance from personnel dressed in full protective suits. Medical teams are currently working to remove at least two of the three people with hantavirus symptoms from the cruise.
The World Health Organization stated that the risk to the population is low, as the disease is not easily transmitted between humans, but Cape Verde authorities stated that they did not allow the ship MV Hondius docked as a precaution, with the “aim of protecting national public health”.
The ship’s operator, Netherlands-based Oceanwide Expeditions, said it was “evaluating the possibility of passengers being evacuated and examined” on the Spanish islands of Las Palmas and Tenerife.”
According to Reuters, two of the fatal victims were a Dutch couple. The 70-year-old man died on board after starting to show symptoms of the virus. Later, the 69-year-old woman was transported with symptoms to South Africa, ending up dying in a hospital in Johannesburg. The third fatal victim was a man of German nationality.
A 69-year-old British man who had tested positive for hantavirus was also transported to Johannesburg to receive treatment and is currently in intensive care.
Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said in a statement that “there is no need for panic or travel restrictions” and assured that the WHO was acting “urgently to support the response to the outbreak and working with the countries involved to support medical care, evacuation of citizens, investigations and public health risk assessment”.
The Ministry of Health of Cape Verde also indicated that “international coordination has allowed a quick, safe and technically adequate response, guaranteeing the clinical monitoring of patients and the preparation of all necessary precautionary measures, including a possible sanitary evacuation by air via ambulance plane of patients being followed up”.
The work is being coordinated between port health structures, with the support of WHO and in liaison with the authorities of the Netherlands, where the ship originates, and the United Kingdom, country of origin of at least one of the affected people.
