Seventeen Americans are on a cruise ship experiencing a hantavirus outbreak early Friday as it heads to Spain’s Canary Islands. File Photo by Elton Monteiro/EPA
May 8 (UPI) — At least five U.S. states are monitoring former passengers of a cruise ship experiencing a hantavirus outbreak, health officials said, as the vessel with 17 Americans still on board heads for Spain.
The ship, MV Hondius, was sailing early Friday from Cape Verde to Spain’s Canary Islands with about 150 people, including 90 passengers and crew, aboard.
Two laboratory-confirmed and five suspected cases of hantavirus have been detected among passengers and crew of the ship, resulting in three deaths and one critically ill patient, according to the World Health Organization.
Though the first known passenger became ill April 6 and died April 11, the outbreak was not identified until May 2, a week after 30 people, including the body of one of the deceased, had disembarked at St. Helena.
Cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions on Thursday said six Americans were among those who left the ship at the British Overseas Territory on April 24.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has informed Arizona, California, Georgia, Texas and Virginia of residents who had been on the ship, according to the states’ health agencies.
The Arizona Department of Health Services told UPI that it was informed of one resident who had been a passenger on the Hondius.
The Georgia Department of Public Health also told UPI in a emailed statement that it was monitoring two Georgia residents who had returned home after disembarking from the vessel.
None of the three former passengers was exhibiting symptoms of the virus, their respective health agencies said.
Health officials in Texas said in a statement that they were monitoring two former passengers who had returned to the United States and were not experiencing symptoms.
The Virginia Department of Health said in a statement that it was monitoring one “Virginia traveler” who had been on the ship, disembarked and returned home.
“This person is currently in good health and is under public health monitoring,” the department said, adding that fewer than five other potentially exposed Virginians could be identified in the coming days.
California health officials also said they were contacted by the CDC and informed that California residents had been on the ship, but would not disclose how many, The New York Times reported.
The discrepancy between the number of Americans being monitored by state health officials and the six U.S. citizens Oceanwide said disembarked at St. Helena was unclear.
Meanwhile, as the vessel was heading to the Canary Islands, where it is expected to arrive within days, Rep. Janelle Bynum on Thursday demanded the Trump administration repatriate and provide support for the additional 17 Americans still on board the vessel.
The Oregon Democrat said a constituent of hers aboard the ship contacted her office, relaying “deeply alarming” information about the conditions passengers are facing.
“These Americans are trapped in a dangerous and deteriorating public health situation, and they deserve more than passive monitoring or delayed coordination,” she said in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and acting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Jay Bhattacharya.
Bynum said that despite the severity of the situation, she has seen no evidence that the federal government has responded sufficiently.
Among questions she asked Rubio and Bhattacharya to answer were what specific actions the federal government has taken to aid the Americans on board, whether officials have contacted the American passengers and what their plan and timeline are to ensure they receive medical attention and are returned to the United States.
“The families of these Americans deserve answers. The Americans on board deserve action,” she said.
“Four days is more than enough time for the federal government to establish a coordinated response, communicate clearly with those affected and ensure that U.S. citizens are not left stranded in a deadly outbreak overseas.”
