DOH monitors ‘hantavirus outbreak’ on cruise ship with 38 Filipino crew members

National

THE Department of Health (DOH) is closely coordinating with the World Health Organization (WHO) following reports that 38 Filipino crew members are on board cruise ship MV Hondius where deaths have been recorded due to hantavirus outbreak.

DOH spokesperson Albert Domingo said there were currently no reported illnesses among the Filipino crew members.

“The good news, according to the WHO, under the international health regulations, they have no illnesses. We have not heard or received any reports so far. We are in close coordination,” Domingo said in an interview on state TV per a report by Inquirer.net.

Domingo also ruled out any immediate danger reaching the country, saying the crew of the MV Hondius had been quarantined aboard the vessel, which remained anchored off Cape Verde in the Atlantic Ocean.

“We are monitoring the situation and, according to our coordination with [other] government agencies, the responsibility of repatriation now falls on the operator,”

Domingo said at the “Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon” program.

“They are a cruise ship, there is a company; let us monitor how they will get home.”

In a statement released on Monday, the WHO confirmed two laboratory-confirmed hantavirus cases and said it was investigating five suspected cases onboard the ship.

Three passengers had died, while another remained critically ill and was being treated in a hospital in Johannesburg.

Cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions said the MV Hondius was carrying 88 passengers and 61 crew members, including 38 Filipinos. The vessel remained anchored off Cape Verde, where local health authorities boarded the ship to assess the situation.

Oceanwide Expeditions said passengers would not disembark in Cape Verde except for three individuals who needed medical evacuation. The company added it was considering sending the vessel to either Las Palmas or Tenerife for further medical screening, although no final disembarkation point had been determined.

According to Domingo, hantavirus infection in humans remains rare and is commonly linked to exposure to urine or feces from infected rats. Symptoms may include flu-like illness and body pain similar to leptospirosis and dengue.

He added that the Philippines has not recorded any recent hantavirus cases and that the DOH is reviewing reports from 1992 to verify whether previous cases were properly documented.(Samantha Faye Alcoma, CTU-TC BAEL-ELSD)