The MV Hondius departed from the city of Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1 and traveled through several islands in the South Atlantic before docking in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on Tuesday.
Dutch company Oceanwide Expeditions, the operator of the cruise ship, said the virus was likely introduced before passengers boarded and did not originate on the vessel itself. Oceanwide Expeditions CEO Remi Bouysset said that based on the medical information currently available, including guidance from World Health Organization experts and health authorities, there is no indication that the source of infection was linked to the vessel's condition or to Oceanwide Expeditions' onboard operations.
The WHO has said the outbreak was not a repeat of the Covid pandemic, stressing that contagion was very rare. However, what concerns experts is that Andes virus, confirmed as the cause of this hantavirus outbreak, is the only type of hantavirus that has been documented to spread from person-to-person.
