Visualizing the hantavirus cruise outbreak in maps and charts
By Henrik Pettersson, Renée Rigdon, Lou Robinson, Gillian Roberts, CNN
(CNN) — The hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship remains of low risk to the general public as 18 passengers from the vessel have arrived at specialized US facilities in Nebraska and Georgia on Monday, May 11.
Three ship passengers have died of the virus, which is typically tied to rodents, since April 11, and a handful of others are sick.
CNN is tracking what we know about the outbreak in maps and charts.
There have been nine confirmed cases and two probable – all of them among passengers or crew of the ship – including the three who have died, according to an update from the World Health Organization on Tuesday.
There is an ongoing investigation related to the more than 30 passengers who disembarked on April 24 at St. Helena and traveled to various countries, all before the outbreak was fully understood.
The outbreak was reported to WHO on May 2, the same day the third passenger died. WHO’s experts now believe the virus may have spread from person to person on board the ship.
After the Cape Verde disembarkation of three people in early May, WHO officials planned for the remaining 147 people — 87 passengers and 60 crew members — to sail to the Canary Islands. They docked there and began disembarkation on Sunday, May 10, under careful observation of medical personnel from WHO and various countries.
As of Tuesday morning, 122 people — 87 passengers and 35 crew members — had been evacuated, and most had returned to their home countries. Six people going to Australia and New Zealand are in the Netherlands and set to be repatriated later this week, according to authorities.
The remaining 27 people aboard the ship — 25 crew members and 2 medical professionals — are now sailing to Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where the ship will be disinfected. They are expected to arrive Sunday evening, according to Oceanwide.
Of the 17 American passengers — plus one British dual national who resides in the US — now back in the US, 16 are in Nebraska and do not have symptoms. One of the Nebraska passengers did test positive, however. And two other people are in Atlanta at Emory University, and at least one has symptoms, health officials said.
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CNN’s Lex Harvey contributed to this report.
