Hantavirus Alert After Flight: 82 Fellow Passengers Being Sought

Following several deaths aboard the expedition ship MV Hondius, the World Health Organization has issued an urgent appeal. Authorities are searching for 82 passengers on an Airlink flight from St. Helena to Johannesburg that was taken by a woman who later died of a hantavirus.

In recent weeks, the MV Hondius had been sailing through the South Atlantic after departing from Ushuaia in Argentina.

During the voyage, several people became infected with the dangerous hantavirus. Three people have since died from the illness, including a Dutch couple. The man died while still on board the ship. His wife left the MV Hondius on Saint Helena in order to accompany her husband’s body back to Europe. She later boarded a scheduled Airlink flight to Johannesburg, where she collapsed at the airport and later died.

The WHO is now urging all passengers on flight 4Z132 from April 25 to contact health authorities. A total of 88 people, including the infected Dutch woman, were on board the Airlink Embraer E190. She had reportedly complained of gastrointestinal symptoms even before the flight, and her condition deteriorated significantly during the journey.

Hantavirus is primarily transmitted through the excretions of infected rodents, including contact with urine, feces, saliva, or contaminated surfaces. Typical symptoms include fever, headaches, muscle pain, chills, dizziness, and gastrointestinal problems. In severe cases, the disease can lead to respiratory failure and circulatory collapse.

Authorities are particularly concerned about the so-called Andes hantavirus. According to the WHO, this strain can, under conditions of close contact, also be transmitted from person to person, a rare but dangerous characteristic among hantaviruses.

Heiner Kubny, PolarJournal