90-Second Read: Hantavirus strikes a cruise ship: A ‘perfect storm’ or a warning sign?

The MV Hondius was the epicenter of the first-ever deadly outbreak of Hantavirus aboard a modern cruise ship. The head of the World Health Organization is seeking to reassure residents of the Spanish island of Tenerife worried about the anticipated arrival there of a Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship. Hantavirus is suspected of spreading aboard a luxury cruise ship, killing three passengers and sparking new concerns as a once obscure disease, with an extraordinarily high death rate, rises amid changing climate conditions. The passenger with the new confirmed case of Hantavirus was in quarantine at a military hospital in Madrid, where 13 other Spanish nationals who were evacuated Sunday also are staying.

In the case of the MV Hondius, the first person believed to have contracted the Hantavirus was a man from the Netherlands who was possibly exposed to rodents while bird-watching prior to boarding the ship before it left for its transatlantic journey, according to authorities. Extensive spread of the Hantavirus outbreak is not expected, health experts say. California health officials Wednesday said that there was a fifth state resident who was potentially exposed to the Hantavirus. The strains that circulate in Asia and Europe, where Hantavirus is more common, and generally less deadly, attack the kidneys.

Western Hemisphere Hantavirus strains are so deadly because they can attack the lungs and make them leak. First, most strains of Hantavirus do not spread directly from person to person. The Andes virus, which circulates in Argentina and Chile and is mainly spread among the long-tailed pygmy rice rat, is the only Hantavirus strain known to be able to transmit from human to human. Cruise ships are a perfect environment for the spread of infectious diseases, unfortunately.

The MV Hondius' doctor fell ill with Hantavirus, as did another crew member who was working as a guide. Another Californian, from Sacramento County, is also back at home after sitting within a couple of seats of a Hantavirus-infected passenger who was briefly on a flight from South Africa to the Netherlands before being asked to deplane due to her illness. A report published in December noted that Hantavirus' range in that country was moving southward.