London: At least two Indian nationals are among the crew members aboard the Dutch cruise vessel MV Hondius, where a hantavirus outbreak has resulted in five confirmed infections and three deaths, according to a BBC report. Health authorities are now tracing passengers who recently disembarked from the ship as investigations into the outbreak continue.

The luxury expedition cruise ship, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, departed from Ushuaia in Argentina on April 1 and is scheduled to reach Spain’s Canary Islands on May 10.

Around 150 passengers and crew members representing 28 nationalities were originally travelling on board the vessel. According to the report, several passengers later left the ship at St Helena on April 24.

Passengers and crew from multiple countries onboard

The BBC reported that the vessel carried travellers and crew from several countries. Among them were 38 people from the Philippines, 31 from the United Kingdom, 23 from the United States, 16 from the Netherlands, 14 from Spain, nine from Germany, six from Canada and two crew members from India.

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Dozens of passengers disembarked at St Helena, a British Overseas Territory, during the voyage.

Oceanwide Expeditions said 29 passengers from at least 12 different nationalities left the ship there. Seven of those passengers were British nationals.

The company also confirmed that the body of one deceased passenger, later identified as a Dutch man, was removed from the vessel.

WHO confirms cases and says outbreak is not a pandemic

The World Health Organization said on Thursday that five out of eight suspected hantavirus infections linked to the cruise ship had been officially confirmed.

Among the fatalities was a 69-year-old Dutch woman who tested positive for the virus. Her husband, also from the Netherlands, and a German woman were also reported dead. Authorities are continuing to investigate the cases.

The WHO stressed that the situation should not be compared to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Maria van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the WHO, said hantavirus spreads in a very different way.

“This is not Covid, this is not influenza, it spreads very, very differently,” she said during a news briefing.

According to van Kerkhove, the virus spreads through “close, intimate contact”.

Mask advice issued on cruise ship

WHO officials said people onboard the MV Hondius had been advised to wear masks as a precautionary measure.

Van Kerkhove added that those caring for infected individuals or coming into close contact with suspected cases should use a higher level of personal protective equipment.

Human-to-human transmission reported

Hantavirus is generally known to spread through rodents. However, the WHO said the current outbreak is significant because human-to-human transmission has now been documented for the first time in this case.

Health officials are continuing efforts to identify and contact passengers who left the ship recently in order to prevent further spread of the infection.

The outbreak aboard the MV Hondius has drawn international attention as authorities monitor the situation closely ahead of the vessel’s expected arrival in the Canary Islands.

With agency inputs