More rat virus cases confirmed - as it emerges cruise ship’s crew 'threw big barbecue' as if nothing had happened
A guest stranded on MV Hondius has said staff organised a "big barbecue as if nothing had happened" despite the deadly outbreak
The number of confirmed cases of the deadly hantavirus which broke out on board a cruise ship in the Atlantic has risen to five, the head of the World Health Organisation has said.
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Tedros Ghebreyesus told a press conference on Thursday that eight cases of the virus have been reported - five of which are confirmed cases and three suspected.
The MV Hondius has been at the centre of an international health scare since the weekend following the outbreak of the disease, which is spread by rats.
Three people have died so far. The ship had been travelling from Ushuaia in Argentina to Cape Verde in Africa.
The update comes as a guest stranded on the ship revealed that social distancing has only been in place for three days, with staff allegedly organising a "big barbecue as if nothing had happened".
Dr Tedros told reporters: "Last Saturday, the United Kingdom notified WHO, under the International Health Regulations, of a cluster of passengers with severe respiratory illness on a Dutch-flagged cruise ship the MV Hondius, which had travelled from Argentina to Cape Verde.
"So far, eight cases have been reported, including three deaths. Five of the eight cases have been confirmed as hantavirus, and the other three are suspected."
He said that it is possible that more cases may be identified given the incubation period of the virus, but that none of the remaining passengers or crew currently aboard the ship are symptomatic.
Argentinian officials have said they believe a deadly outbreak was brought aboard a cruise ship after a Dutch couple caught the illness during a bird-watching trip to a rubbish dump.
"Given the incubation period of the Andes Virus, which can be up to six weeks, it’s possible that more cases may be reported," Dr Tedros confirmed.
"While this is a serious incident, WHO assesses the public health risk low."
A 70-year-old Dutch man, died on April 11 and his body remained on board until April 24, when it "was disembarked on St Helena, with his wife accompanying the repatriation", Oceanwide Expeditions said.
Some 23 other people disembarked at this point. The man’s widow was taken ill on a flight from St Helena to South Africa, and she died on April 26 upon arrival at the emergency department of Johannesburg hospital.
Health officials are now trying to trace at least 69 passengers who were on board the same two flights as the Dutch woman before she died.
Another passenger of German nationality died on board the ship, which is expected to reach Tenerife on Saturday, on May 2.
A French passenger still stuck on board the ship said staff even had a "big barbecue" on the boat as "if nothing happened".
They told BFM TV: "People are not panicking, but you can feel that it is starting to weigh on you, especially since we don't know where we are going.
"We all eat together at the restaurant. There's social distancing, but it's only been in place for three days.
"We eat seated in a staggered pattern. There was a big barbecue on the boat, as if nothing had happened. After that, we do what we want on the boat."
The WHO is working with health authorities in South Africa to trace contacts of the two cases in the country, which includes one Briton who is still in intensive care there.
Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's director of the department of epidemic and pandemic threat management, said: "One was the second case that was identified, the contact the wife of the first case, who sadly passed away.
"And then there is another case that is currently in ICU in South Africa, and this person is doing better as we understand."
She added: "Not only have they identified the passengers and are following up from the flight, but they’re also following up any contacts for people who attended to the woman who passed away, who went through the airport, people medically caring for the man who is in ICU."
Asked about the transmission of the virus, Dr Maria van Kerkhove said: "There may be some coughing, there may be some aerosolised procedures that may be done, of course, that's where we would require higher level of care.
"This is not COVID, this is not influenza, it spreads very, very differently."
Dr Van Kerkhove described how two patients – known to include a Briton – remain in hospital in the Netherlands, while a Briton is in intensive care in South Africa.
She told a WHO press briefing: “And I am very happy to say the patient in South Africa is doing better, and the two patients in the Netherlands we hear are stable. So that is actually very good news.”
However, the outbreak is not expected to be an epidemic, health officials have said.
Dr Abdirahman Mahamud, director at the alert and response co-ordination department of the World Health Organisation’s Emergencies Health Programme, highlighted a similar outbreak in Argentina in 2018/19 which led to 34 cases.
He said: "If we follow public health measures, and the lessons we learned from Argentina are shared across all countries, we can break this chain of transmission and this doesn’t need to be a large epidemic."
Dr Mahamud added: "We don’t anticipate a large epidemic. With experience our member states have, and the actions they have taken, we believe that this will not lead to subsequent chain of transmission."