- By Surarika Das
- Fri, 08 May 2026 02:40 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
The outbreak of Hantavirus, a rodent-borne infection, has sparked global concerns as three people died after they were affected by the virus. The exact location of the outbreak is yet to be ascertained. However, medical experts claim that the virus might have been spread on a cruise that sailed across the Atlantic Ocean.
The concerns worldwide, years after the Covid outbreak, prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to address a press briefing on Thursday on the cruise ship outbreak to say that the risk to the wider public is low because the virus can’t easily be passed between people.
The first case was also identified in a passenger of the ship on May 2. Three others were affected three days apart from each other. The first death was reported on April 6. The passenger experienced fever, headache, and mild diarrhea. Before boarding, the man and his wife, who was also Dutch, had gone sightseeing in Ushuaia and traveled elsewhere in Argentina and Chile, according to WHO. The wife also died on April 26 in South Africa after collapsing at an airport while trying to board another plane home.
The deceased's body was taken off the ship on April 24 in Saint Helena, an island in the South Atlantic where 29 other passengers, including his wife, disembarked, as per the ship's operator. The third death was of a German woman, who died onboard nearly a month after the first passenger fell ill.
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On Thursday, the World Health Organisation, said that nationals of 12 countries have disembarked at Saint Helena, part of the British Overseas Territory. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that five confirmed and three suspected cases had been reported overall, including the three deaths.
Which Are The Countries Directly Affected?
Argentina: The passengers boarded the ship in Ushuaia.
Saint Helena: The cruise ship stopped there, and authorities are monitoring contacts.
South Africa: The infected passengers were hospitalised there.
Cape Verde: This country was the destination of the cruise route.
Netherlands: the ship operator is Dutch, and two deceased passengers—a couple—were Dutch.
United Kingdom:Saint Helena is a British territory, and a British patient tested positive.
ALSO READ: Is Hantavirus Deadly? Understanding Rare Disease Behind Recent Vessel Outbreak
Countries Whose Nationals Disembarked At Saint Helena
Canada
Denmark
Germany
New Zealand
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Singapore
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
United States
Combined unique list
Argentina
Saint Helena
South Africa
Cape Verde
Netherlands
United Kingdom
Canada
Denmark
Germany
New Zealand
The UN stated that the outbreak is unlikely to turn into a pandemic. Even as the three deaths have sparked international alarm, health officials have played down fears of a wider global outbreak from the rat-borne virus, which is less contagious than Covid-19.