About 40 passengers disembark after hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship at St. Helena

More than two dozen passengers left a cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak on April 24 without contact tracing, nearly two weeks after the first passenger died on board, the ship operator and Dutch officials said Thursday. The news raised concerns that the virus could spread as travellers returned home, although experts say the risk to the wider public is considered low. The Dutch-based company had previously said the body of the Dutch man who died on April 11 was taken off the ship on the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena on April 24, when his wife also disembarked. She then flew to South Africa a day later and died there. The company said Thursday, 29 passengers left the vessel at St. Helena, while the Dutch Foreign Ministry put the number at about 40. The company had not previously acknowledged that dozens more people left the ship at that time. The people who left the ship to return to their home countries were of at least 12 different nationalities, Oceanwi

The ship called at the British territory of St. Helena, where 30 guests disembarked, including the first fatality, a Dutchman who died April 11.

Around 40 passengers have disembarked from a cruise ship affected by a deadly hantavirus outbreak during a stop at Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — More than two dozen passengers left a cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak on April 24 without contact tracing, nearly two weeks after the first passenger died on board, the ship operator and Dutch officials said Thursday. The news raised concerns that the virus could spread as travelers returned home, although experts say the risk to the wider public is considered low. The Netherlands-based company had previously said the body of the Dutch man who died on April 11 was taken off the ship on the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena on April 24, when his wife also disembarked. She then flew to South Africa a day later and died there. The company said Thursday 29 passengers left the vessel at St. Helena, while the Dutch Foreign Ministry put the number at about 40. The company had not previously acknowledged that dozens more people left the ship at that time. The people who left the ship to return to their home countries were of at least 12 different nationalities, Oceanwide Expeditions said. It said there were also two people whose nationalities w

THE HAGUE — About 40 passengers from a cruise ship by a deadly hantavirus outbreak have disembarked on St. Helena, according to Dutch officials. Around 40 passengers, including the wife of a Dutch man who died, left the cruise ship during a stop at St. Helena, a small, craggy island in the South Atlantic Ocean, the Dutch foreign ministry has said. In a letter to parliament sent late Wednesday evening local time, foreign minister Tom Berendsen said that those who disembarked on the remote island included a Dutch woman who is hospitalized South Africa and a Swiss man who is also currently being treated. Authorities did not confirm where the disembarked passengers are now.

The dozens of passengers, including the wife of a Dutch man who died, left the cruise ship during a stop at the British territory, the Dutch foreign ministry said on Thursday.