Two Indians aboard cruise ship hit by deadly Hantavirus outbreak

Two Indians were among 149 people aboard a luxury expedition cruise ship stranded in the Atlantic Ocean after a deadly hantavirus outbreak left three passengers dead and eight others infected or suspected to be infected, according to BBC.The outbreak on board MV Hondius, which has passengers from several countries, is being treated seriously by health authorities as travellers have already returned home on international flights to countries including the UK, South Africa, the Netherlands, the US and Switzerland. A large international tracing operation is now underway to identify and monitor people who may have been exposed to the virus.The ship set sail from Argentina a month ago and had been visiting remote wildlife areas before the outbreak emerged. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), eight cases linked to the ship have been identified so far, including three confirmed and five suspected infections. Four passengers have also been medically evacuated from the vessel for treatment.In an update, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove from WHO stressed that the outbreak should not be compared to Covid-19 or influenza. She said, “This is not Covid, this is not influenza, it spreads very, very differently,” as quoted by BBC.Health experts say the Andes strain of hantavirus linked to the outbreak is one of the rarest and most lethal strains of the virus. While most hantaviruses do not spread between people, rare instances of human-to-human transmission have been documented with the Andes strain through very close contact.Hantavirus is a group of viruses carried by rodents and can be found in parts of Europe, Africa and Asia. Infections in humans usually occur in places where people and rodents coexist. People are typically infected by breathing in air contaminated with virus particles from rodent urine, droppings or saliva.It is still unclear how the outbreak began. Investigators believe a passenger may have come into contact with the virus either before boarding the ship or while visiting remote wildlife regions during the cruise. Experts also believe some infections on board may have spread between passengers.Among the dead is a Dutch woman who left the MV Hondius when it stopped at the island of St Helena on 24 April. She had been sharing a cabin with her husband, who died on board on 11 April, although authorities have not confirmed whether he was one of the confirmed hantavirus cases.Symptoms of hantavirus usually appear between two and four weeks after exposure, but they can also develop more than a month later. Health officials are now monitoring passengers, crew members and other contacts who may have been exposed on the ship, in hospitals or during flights taken after leaving the vessel.WHO has said that although human-to-human spread is possible with the Andes strain, the global risk of infection remains low.