Couple killed in hantavirus outbreak ‘contracted it during bird watching trip’

A Dutch couple who died from hantavirus after sailing on a doomed cruise ship are reportedly believed to have caught the illness while birdwatching.

Argentine officials revealed their government’s leading theory is that the two MV Hondius passengers carried the rat-virus on board after birdwatching in the city of Ushuaia, Associated Press reports.

The pair, both 69, visited a landfill site during the trip and may have been exposed to rodents carrying the deadly infection.

They then boarded the cruise ship on April 1 2026 and the husband developed flu-like symptoms five days later.

He died on April 11 and his body went ashore at Saint Helena on April 24 alongside his wife. She then fell ill and died in Johannesburg on April 26.

The family of the couple at the centre of the outbreak said: ‘We cannot yet comprehend that we have to miss them. We want to bring them home in peace and remember them.’

The WHO has also said it has been tracing people on the woman’s flight between the Saint Helena and Johannesburg. ‘Contact tracing for passengers on the flight has been initiated,’ WHO said in a statement.

There had been 82 passengers and six crew onboard the April 25 flight, South African-based carrier Airlink told AFP.

Argentine authorities have said Ushuaia and surrounding Tierra del Fuego province had never recorded a hantavirus case.

A German national also died on the ship on May 2 and it’s unclear if they were infected.

More cases of hantavirus have now emerged on board the luxury cruise liner as it travelled towards Cape Verde.

Five people are confirmed to have caught the virus, with three more suspected to be infected.

A British national is intensive care in South Africa after he was evacuated from the ship at the end of April.

Swiss authorities have also confirmed a case of hantavirus from a passenger on the first leg of the trip, who presented to hospital in Zurich after receiving an email about the outbreak.

Three individuals, including the British ship doctor, were medically evacuated from the cruise ship on Wednesday.

Two are in a serious condition and are confirmed to have the virus, while a third is asymptomatic but was a close contact of the German national who died on May 2.

Hantavirus is typically only spread by exposure to rodent urine, feces or saliva, but the World Health Organisation believes that human-to-human transmission took place on MV Hondius.

What is hantavirus?

Hantaviruses are a family of rodent-bourne viruses, with each strain tied to a specific host species.

It’s spread when people come into contact with infected droppings, saliva, urine or nesting materials, but is extremely rare, and rarely passed from person to person.

If caught, hantavirus can lead to two main illnesses, one of which affects the lungs (Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome or HPS) and the other which affects the kidneys (Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome or HFRS).

The incubation period for this illness is generally two to four weeks, according to the government, but can range from as little as two days to as long as eight weeks.

What are the symptoms?

Early symptoms of hantavirus are similar to the flu, and include headaches, dizziness, chills as well as abdominal problems like diarrhoea, vomiting and nausea.

If it progresses into Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, patients can experience headaches, dizziness, chills and abdominal problems like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea.

If you develop Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome, initial symptoms will include intense headaches, back and abdominal pain, fever or chills, nausea, and blurred vision.

If the disease progresses, later symptoms include low blood pressure, acute shock (lack of blood flow), internal bleeding, and acute kidney failure, according to the CDC.

Hantavirus can be fatal, so it’s important to keep an eye on symptoms if you believe you’ve been exposed. There is currently no cure for the disease.

The evacuation means the ship can now continue on its three-day journey to the Canary Islands after Spanish authorities gave permission for the boat to dock.

Around 150 guests and crew – including 23 British nationals – initially remained on the liner after the rat-related virus outbreak took hold.

According to WHO, the outbreak continues to pose a low risk to public health.

Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group at the University of Oxford, added that the risk of hantavirus spreading from the outbreak is ‘essentially zero’.

This is because the Andes virus – the variant which is understood to have caused the outbreak – is ‘known very rarely to spread between people with close contact’.

‘It means it is very easy to isolate people who are unwell and to follow quarantine and so on to avoid spread to other people,’ he added.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.