A rare virus called the hantavirus has killed three people traveling on a cruise ship. Six people have been infected so far, and one is still in the intensive care section of the hospital in South Africa, in critical condition.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Sunday that the cause of the deaths was a suspected hantavirus outbreak aboard an Atlantic Ocean cruise ship. The WHO confirmed that it is responding to the public health incident aboard the MV Hondius after one case of hantavirus was confirmed and five others are suspected among passengers and crew.

“Detailed investigations are ongoing, including further laboratory testing and epidemiological investigations. Medical care and support are being provided to passengers and crew. Sequencing of the virus is also ongoing,” the WHO stated.

One of those who has passed away was a 70-year-old man. He became ill aboard the vessel and died after reaching the British territory of St. Helena Island, according to an Associated Press report citing South Africa’s Department of Health. His 69-year-old wife collapsed at an airport in South Africa while trying to board a flight to her home country, the Netherlands, and died later in a South African hospital. The patient currently in intensive care has been identified as a British national.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote that Hantaviruses are a family of viruses found around the world that can cause serious illnesses and death. These viruses cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). They are primarily spread by rodents.

The body of the third victim remains aboard the ship, along with two symptomatic crew members in need of urgent medical care, Oceanwide Expeditions, the agency operating the cruise, said in a statement on Sunday. The agency added that repatriation of the crew members depends on authorization from the local Cape Verdean health authorities. –RT

Cruise ships are notorious for outbreaks.

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People accumulate in an enclosed ship with limited fresh air, which is likely one of the causes of repeated outbreaks on cruise ships.