The hantavirus-stricken cruise ship arrived Monday in the Netherlands, ending a seven-week, 8,500 mile journey that was hit by up to 11 infections and three deaths from the rare disease.
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The MV Hondius cruise ship docked in Rotterdam just after 4:30 a.m. ET for disinfection after putting authorities across the world on alert thanks to the deadly outbreak of a communicable strain of the virus primarily spread by rodents.
Only Captain Jan Dobrogowski and 26 crew members remained on board, with most passengers — including 18 Americans — under quarantine in their home countries. The body of a German man who died at sea was also on the ship.
The ship set off from the Antarctic city of Ushuaia in Southern Argentina on April 1 with almost 150 people on board, on a nature sight-seeing expedition that took in some of the world’s most remote islands.
A World Health Organization investigation is underway to pinpoint the origin of the virus but a working theory is that the first person to contract the disease may have been exposed to rodents on a bird-watching trip.
There have so far been nine laboratory-confirmed cases among people who were on board the Hondius and two suspected cases.
The incubation period for hantavirus is up to six weeks and on Saturday it was revealed a Canadian Hondius passenger tested positive last week and is being treated in hospital. Like other patients, the passenger has the Andes strain which can be transmitted from person to person.
Other passengers, including the Americans, are now isolating at home or in hotels since they left the ship on May 10 on Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
The vessel had been stranded off its intended final destination, Cape Verde in west Africa, after authorities denied it permission to dock there.
Hantavirus is endemic in parts of South America but remains very rare among humans and has never before been recorded on a cruise ship. Global and U.S. health officials have consistently attempted to calm fears of a wider outbreak.
As for the Hondius, it is set to sail again as soon as next month after being disinfected and inspected by public health officials. The Polartours website lists a “Polar Cruise” starting on June 5, with prices starting at $5,750 per person.
