Deadly rat virus spreads to passengers on stranded cruise ship.

A deadly rat-borne virus may have already infected passengers on a cruise ship before they even boarded.

The outbreak has quickly spread, killing three people and sickening at least seven others on the vessel.

The World Health Organization warned Tuesday that some patients with hantavirus had very close contact with each other.

This suggests a rare human-to-human transmission event is occurring on the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius.

The ship is currently stranded at the Port of Praia in Cape Verde.

Local health authorities refused docking authorization until the situation is fully resolved.

Officials say teams are working directly on board the vessel with nearly 150 people inside.

It remains unclear if the virus originated on the ship or if the first sick passengers brought it from Argentina.

WHO's Dr Maria Van Kerhove stated that human-to-human transmission cannot be ruled out as a precaution.

She emphasized that the risk to the general public remains low.

This virus does not spread like flu or Covid.

Typically, hantavirus is caught by inhaling particles from dried rodent droppings or animal bites.

Previous cases in Chile and Argentina have shown similar transmission patterns.

At least seven people are infected aboard the ship that sailed from Ushuaia to Cape Verde in March.

Dr Maria Van Kerkhove is leading efforts to locate the original source of exposure.

Two crew members continue to show acute respiratory symptoms requiring urgent medical care.

One crew member is British, while the other is Dutch.

Passenger Ann Lane from Dublin confirmed that the ship's doctor is among the sick.

She described him as a younger man who has been treating everyone day and night.

Her family calls him fabulous for his dedication during this crisis.

He has reportedly been sick for several days, possibly since last Thursday.

Plans are being drawn to evacuate sick passengers using two specialized aircraft.

However, health officials are not yet certain if the evacuation will proceed.

US travel blogger Jake Rosmarin spoke aboard the ship, releasing a tearful plea for support.

Hantavirus is an extremely rare infection with a low mortality rate in the United States.

Only one to two people die from it annually there, and few cases are recorded globally.

In the past thirty years, only one thousand infections have been officially recorded. This rare outbreak includes the late Gene Hackman's wife, Betsy Arakawa.

Symptoms typically appear within one to eight weeks after exposure. The illness starts with fever and stomach issues before turning into pneumonia.

About thirty-five percent of infected individuals die, according to the CDC. The virus causes blood vessels to leak, filling the lungs with fluid. This prevents patients from breathing properly.

No specific treatment or cure exists for this infection.

The ship considered sailing to Las Palmas or Tenerife for medical screening. These screenings would be supervised by the WHO and Dutch health services. However, no definitive evacuation plan has been confirmed yet.

Spanish authorities rejected the idea of moving the vessel. They stated that no final decision has been made regarding the ship's route.

Yesterday, the WHO identified seven patients infected with the virus on the vessel.

The first passenger was a seventy-year-old Dutch man. He died on April 11 while the ship steamed toward Tristan da Cunha. His body stayed on board until April 24. Then, it was disembarked on St Helena with his wife accompanying the repatriation, Oceanwide Expeditions said.

Because the vessel flies the Dutch flag, the Netherlands coordinates consular assistance for passengers. This support extends to passengers of other nationalities as well.

Three days later, the man's sixty-nine-year-old wife also fell sick. She later died as well. Another passenger, a Briton, became seriously ill and was medically evacuated to South Africa. South African authorities confirmed that this sixty-nine-year-old British patient tested positive for the hantavirus. He is currently being treated in a Johannesburg hospital.

On May 2, another passenger of German nationality died on board the ship.

On Tuesday, US travel blogger Jake Rosmarin, a passenger on the ship, released a tearful update from his bedroom. He told his forty-four thousand followers in an Instagram video: "I am currently on board the MV Hondius, and what's happening right now is very real for all of us here."

"We're not just a story, we're not just headlines, we're people. People with families, with lives, with people waiting for us at home."

Overwhelmed with emotion and fear, the Boston-based content creator continued: "There's a lot of uncertainty, and that's the hardest part."

"All we want right now is to feel safe, to have clarity, and to get home."

"So if you're seeing coverage about this, just remember that there are real people behind it, and that this isn't something happening far away."

"It's happening to us, right now.