The World Health Organization (WHO), on Tuesday confirmed two new cases of Hantavirus and five others are suspected among the people on a cruise ship stuck off Cape Verde, including three who have died.
WHO said it was trying to contact passengers on an April 25 flight between Saint Helena and Johannesburg, taken by one of the sick cruise ship passengers who died the next day.
“As of 4 May 2026, seven cases (two laboratory confirmed cases of hantavirus and five suspected cases) have been identified, including three deaths, one critically ill patient and three individuals reporting mild symptoms,” the United Nations health agency said in a statement.
During the cruise trip, which was travelling from Ushuaia in Argentina to Cape Verde off West Africa, “illness onset occurred between 6 and 28 April 2026,” WHO said.
Hantavirus was “characterised by fever, gastrointestinal symptoms, rapid progression to pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome and shock,” it said, adding that “further investigations are ongoing”.
WHO stressed that it assessed the risk to the global population from outbreak as “low”, adding that it would continue to monitor the situation.
