Hantavirus outbreak on Dutch cruise ship; three dead

 

 

 

A cruise ship based in the Netherlands is suspected of having an outbreak of hantavirus. Three people on board have died and four have been hospitalized in Johannesburg. Subsequent expert tests have confirmed that the cause of death was the hantavirus outbreak.

The ship was off the coast of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, an island nation in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of West Africa. The World Health Organization said on Monday that seven cases of hantavirus had been confirmed on the luxury ship, which was carrying British, American and Spanish passengers.