A luxury expedition voyage has turned into a mounting health crisis after a rare and potentially deadly virus outbreak left a cruise ship stranded off Africa’s west coast, with three people dead and more cases under investigation.

The MV Hondius, which recently toured the southern Atlantic Ocean, is now at the center of urgent global health scrutiny as 147 passengers and crew face exposure to hantavirus, a little-known infection that can turn fatal with alarming speed.

Outbreak Turns Deadly

The World Health Organization confirmed two cases and identified five more as suspected infections as of May 4. Among those impacted are three individuals who have died, including one person who had already disembarked the ship.

The situation is raising concern not just because of the deaths, but because hantavirus is rarely seen in cruise ship environments, making this outbreak highly unusual and difficult to predict.

Why This Virus Is Different

Cruise ships are no strangers to outbreaks. Tight quarters and long यात्रies often fuel the spread of viruses. In 2025 alone, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 23 outbreaks on ships docking in the United States, most linked to norovirus.

But hantavirus is not norovirus.

“I don’t know of any other cases [of hantavirus] reported on a cruise ship before,” Emily Abdoler, an infectious diseases doctor at the University of Michigan Medical School, tells the New York Times’ Alexandra E. Petri and Livia Albeck-Ripka. “This is not a common infection, but it’s even less common to have the human spread raised as a possibility.”

Unlike typical cruise outbreaks, most strains of hantavirus do not spread easily between people. Instead, the virus is usually transmitted through contact with infected rodent urine, saliva or droppings.

A Troubling Origin

Health experts believe the outbreak may trace back to contaminated rodent material encountered during the ship’s journey, which began in southern Argentina.

One strain, known as the Andes virus, has raised additional concern because it is suspected of spreading between humans, primarily in Argentina and Chile.

“It’s significant that this cruise ship started its journey in Argentina,” Daniel Bausch, an infectious diseases physician-scientist at the Geneva Graduate Institute in Switzerland, tells Reuters’ Olivia Le Poidevin, Toby Sterling, Anthony Deutsch and Charlotte Van Campenhout.

Still, he adds a note of cautious reassurance. “The good news is ... this is not going to be a big outbreak.”

A Rare but Dangerous Infection

Hantavirus infections are extremely rare but can be devastating.

In the United States, only 890 cases were recorded between 1993 and 2023. Yet the illness can escalate quickly from mild symptoms to life-threatening complications.

After exposure, symptoms may take one to eight weeks to appear, often beginning with fever, chills, muscle aches and headaches.

From there, patients can develop severe conditions such as hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, which can lead to kidney failure and carries a death rate of 1 to 15 percent.

Even more alarming is hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, where fluid floods the lungs, making breathing nearly impossible. This form has a fatality rate between 30 and 50 percent.

"You're Trying to Breathe and You Just Can’t"

For survivors, the experience can be harrowing.

“I imagine it’s what drowning feels like. You’re trying to breathe, and you just can’t get the air in,” Jordan Herbst, who contracted hantavirus as a teenager in Bishop, California, tells the New York Times’ Simar Bajaj and Nina Agrawal.

Herbst spent six days in a medically induced coma and required a machine to take over the function of his heart and lungs.

A Virus With a Mysterious History

Hantavirus first emerged in the United States during a deadly 1993 outbreak in the Southwest. Between May and December of that year, 53 people were infected and 32 died.

The illness baffled scientists until Navajo elders helped identify its source, marking a critical breakthrough in understanding the disease.

Since then, cases have remained rare but persistent, mostly in regions west of the Mississippi River. In 2012, thousands of visitors to Yosemite National Park were warned of potential exposure.

“In the Americas, hantavirus infection is very serious, but it’s also quite rare,” Steven Bradfute, an immunologist at the University of New Mexico, tells the Associated Press’ Susan Montoya Bryan. “And so, for a time, that probably led to less research into it because of funding priorities, but I know there’s been a lot of interest in funding hantavirus work of late.”

What Happens Next

With symptoms often delayed, experts warn that more cases linked to the MV Hondius could still emerge in the coming weeks.

Rhys Parry, a molecular virologist at the University of Queensland in Australia, says the outbreak most likely began through contact with infected rodent material and could continue to surface as the incubation period unfolds.

There is currently no specific cure for hantavirus. However, early medical intervention can significantly improve survival chances.

Health officials stress prevention as the best defense. That includes avoiding contact with rodent droppings and using disinfectants like bleach when cleaning potentially contaminated areas.