After a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise shipInfection expert: Danger on the MV Hondius is not over yet!

Chain of infection on MV Hondius not yet broken

So far, three people have died as a result Hantavirus-Outbreak on the expedition cruise ship MV Hondius died, other people – including infected people and a contact person – were evacuated from board. Laboratory tests in South Africa and Switzerland have now confirmed that this is a strain of the virus that is transmitted from person to person.

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One might think that the danger to the remaining people still on board the MV Hondius is now averted, as the infected have been evacuated and strict security measures have been taken. But Dr. Georg-Christian Zinn, director of the Bioscientia hygiene center, said in an RTL interview: “In my opinion, this chain of infections has not yet been broken.”

The reason: “Somewhere either a sick crew member must have infected the others or, since there are a lot of cases – there are currently seven suspected cases and three deaths – somewhere in things that have contact with the passengers and also the crew, there must be mouse droppings, there must be hantaviruses.” According to the expert, this could be “dirty or contaminated bed sheets, towels that were distributed on the ship. Or even food, grains, muesli, whatever”. In any case, we now have to “really make sure that this chain of infections is broken”. The problem: “This mouse droppings with hantaviruses can also be infectious for many, many days.”

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Although bank voles and their remains are considered the main carriers of the hantavirus, there is a virus variant “that occurs primarily in South America that can be transmitted from person to person,” explains Dr. Tin. “This is not normal with hantaviruses; they are transmitted via mice and mouse droppings.”

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For this reason, many people are now asking themselves whether there is a risk of an outbreak here too. But Dr. Zinn gives the all-clear: “It is very difficult for you to actually get a serious infection.” Because “many infections or contacts with the virus are asymptomatic”. It is even assumed that “one percent of the German population has already had contact with the virus”.

The expert considers it “relatively unlikely” that a hantavirus pandemic will break out in our country. “We are currently very, very well prepared, (…) hantaviruses play no role at all.”

Source used: own RTL research