The virus can cause two serious illnesses: Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which attacks lungs, or haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, which damages the kidneys. Both are fatal
Passengers wearing blue protective suits board a military bus as passengers and crew are evacuated from the Dutch-flagged Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius. (AFP)
Two Indian crew members have been safely evacuated from the Hantavirus-infected cruise ship MV Hondius and are being quarantined in the Netherlands, India’s embassy in Madrid confirmed on May 10. Both nationals are healthy and asymptomatic, the embassy said.
The Dutch-flagged vessel, carrying around 150 individuals from 23 countries, arrived off the coast of Spain’s Canary Islands after eight Hantavirus cases were reported onboard, with five confirmed and three deaths. Passengers disembarked in accordance with World Health Organization and Spanish authorities’ protocols.
“The Ambassador is in close contact with the Spanish authorities and the Indian nationals and is regularly monitoring the situation to assure the well-being and safety of the Indian nationals,” the embassy said in a statement.
What Is Hantavirus?
While Indian nationals are safe, the outbreak has exposed a rare and potentially deadly virus that few people understand. Hantavirus is a rare virus naturally found in rodents like rats and mice. It normally stays contained in the animal world, but humans can catch it—and when they do, it can be deadly.
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The outbreak aboard MV Hondius involved the Andes variant, which is particularly concerning. “The WHO has confirmed the infection as Andes virus—a rare type of Hantavirus naturally found in rodents, but potentially deadly to humans,” said Dr Padma Venkat, dean of the School of Health Sciences and Technology at University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun.
The virus can cause two serious illnesses in humans: Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which attacks the lungs, or haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, which damages the kidneys. According to experts, both are fatal.
How Does It Spread?
Normally, humans contract the virus by inhaling airborne particles contaminated with rodent urine, faeces, or saliva. But on a cruise ship, the situation changed dramatically.
“What we know so far suggests that the virus has spread directly between humans,” said Dr Gautam Menon, an epidemiologist and professor at Ashoka University. “The cruise ship had about 150 passengers from 23 countries, all crammed together in a multi-day voyage, where they had multiple opportunities to interact at close quarters.”
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According to India’s Union Health Ministry, the Andes strain is “known to have limited capability of human-to-human transmission and generally requires close and prolonged contact for spread”. On a cruise ship, those conditions were perfect for the virus to jump from person to person.
“Even though this virus is not believed to spread very efficiently, it would have done so far more easily in the enclosed environment that the ship provided,” Menon added.
Why Is It So Deadly?
The infection starts innocuously. “What often begins as a regular flu-like illness—fatigue, fever, body ache, dizziness and abdominal discomfort—can escalate within days into acute respiratory distress or kidney failure,” Venkat explained.
On the MV Hondius, eight people were infected and five cases were confirmed. Three people died. That’s a mortality rate of about 40 per cent—far higher than influenza.
“The infection, which presents with initial symptoms resembling the flu, has a relatively high mortality, of about 40 per cent,” Menon said. This high death rate, combined with the fact that people don’t know they have the virus until it’s too late, makes Hantavirus particularly dangerous.
Is There A Treatment?
Answer is no. There is no specific treatment available. Doctors can only manage symptoms and hope the patient’s immune system fights off the infection. This is why prevention and early detection are critical.
Should We Be Concerned?
The WHO has classified this outbreak as low risk, and health authorities believe it will remain contained to the ship. “From all we know, and the WHO has provided similar guidance, this outbreak is unlikely to expand further, even as efforts are on to track contacts of those passengers who may have been exposed,” Menon said.
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However, there’s a complication: the incubation period—the time between infection and when symptoms appear—can be up to several weeks. “Passengers and their contacts will have to be quarantined for a long period before they can be declared safe,” Menon warned.
Why Does This Matter Now?
This outbreak highlights a growing global risk. “As human travel pushes deeper into remote and previously untouched environments, exposure to unfamiliar microbes and naturally residing animal-borne pathogens also rises,” Venkat noted. “In confined ecosystems such as cruise ships, such exposure can quickly turn into outbreaks.”
The Union Health Ministry is coordinating with the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), and the WHO. The Public Health Emergency Operations Centre has convened a high-level review meeting to assess preparedness. “The Union Health Ministry remains vigilant and is maintaining close coordination with WHO and other international partners,” a ministry official stated last week.
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