South Africa’s Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi has said that 42 South Africans are currently being observed for signs of hantavirus after coming into contact with two patients who were evacuated to the country for treatment.

A cruise ship travelling from Argentina to the Canary Islands via Cape Verde reported a number of passengers suffering from a severe acute respiratory illness.

The 147 passengers and crew on board the ship, the MV Hondius, have been placed under quarantine. Seven cases and three deaths have been reported so far, including a woman who died in South Africa after being evacuated to land from the ship.

Hantavirus is a zoonotic disease endemic to the Americas that is transmitted from animals to humans. Other zoonotic diseases include Ebola, Covid-19, and rabies.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), humans can contract hantavirus by coming into contact with the urine, faeces, or saliva of infected rodents, as well as through a bite or scratch.

Human infection often occurs when dust particles contaminated with rodent urine or faeces are inhaled.

The outbreak is currently believed to involve the Andes virus, the only hantavirus strain known to spread between people, although under very rare conditions.

Motsoaledi explained that transmission requires very close contact, noting that the patient who died in South Africa was the spouse of the first passenger who died on the ship.

The minister said authorities had identified 62 people who may have come into contact with the infected passengers evacuated to South Africa. “Forty-two of them have already been traced and they are being observed,” he added.

Outbreaks of the disease are rare but severe, with a fatality rate of around 50%. Apart from a major outbreak during the Korean War in the early 1950s, most have been in the Americas, with the most recent occurring in Argentina in 2019.

The MV Hondius left the port of Ushuaia, Argentina, on 1 April 2026 for what was intended to be a one-month journey across the Atlantic Ocean to the Canary Islands via Cape Verde.

Multiple stops were planned, including Antarctica, South Georgia, Nightingale Island, Saint Helena, and Ascension Island.

According to WHO, an adult male who had been travelling in Argentina with his spouse prior to the cruise developed a fever, headache, and mild diarrhoea five days into the trip. By 11 April, he had developed respiratory distress and died that day.

His body remained on board until 24 April, when it was removed at Saint Helena, while his wife went ashore with gastrointestinal symptoms. She was subsequently transported to South Africa for treatment, where she died on 26 April from what was later confirmed to be a hantavirus infection.

On 24 April, another adult male showed signs of a fever, shortness of breath, and pneumonia. He was transported to South Africa on 26 April, where he currently remains in an intensive care unit. Testing later confirmed that he is suffering from a hantavirus infection.

A third passenger died on board the MV Hondius on 2 May after developing a fever and a “general feeling of being unwell” on 28 April.

Health authorities are continuing to monitor passengers and trace contacts as the quarantined vessel remains anchored near Cape Verde.