Three Cruise Ship Passengers Die In Suspected Hantavirus Outbreak

By Chandni Shah and Charlotte Van Campenhout

May 3 (Reuters) – Three people have died and three are ill after a Netherlands-based cruise ship was hit by a suspected outbreak of hantavirus, a rodent-borne virus that can cause fatal respiratory illness, authorities and media reports said on Sunday.

Netherlands-based Oceanwide Expeditions said in a news release it was “managing a serious medical situation” on a polar expedition ship, the MV Hondius, which was off Cape Verde, an island nation in the Atlantic west of Africa.

The cruise departed from Argentina about three weeks ago with around 150 passengers and stopped in