The Department of Health said there’s no need to panic over the hantavirus.
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- Three people have died from a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship, including a Dutch woman who collapsed at OR Tambo International Airport.
- The Department of Health says there is no need to panic, as only two patients from the cruise ship entered South Africa.
- A British national remains in a critical condition and in isolation at a private hospital in Sandton.
The Department of Health has urged South Africans not to panic over a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship that claimed at least three lives, including a Dutch woman who died at a Kempton Park health facility after collapsing at OR Tambo International Airport.
The virus, which is carried in the faeces and urine of rats and can cause fatal respiratory illness, was detected on the MV Hondius cruise ship travelling from Argentina to the Canary Islands via Cape Verde.
In a statement on Monday, the department said: “In our view, there is no need for the public to panic because only two patients from the cruise ship have been within our borders.”
Department spokesperson Foster Mohale said the only problem was tracing anyone who may have come into contact with them.
Mohale added:
The only challenge is that we need anyone who came in contact with the two patients to come forward for screening and testing to check if they are not infected yet.
According to the department’s statement, the ship was carrying 150 tourists from various countries. It had departed from Ushuaia, in southern Argentina, about three weeks ago, and was headed to the Canary Islands.
“While travelling past South African shores, some passengers experienced serious health complications arising from what was initially considered severe acute respiratory infections,” the statement said.
The first case was a 70-year-old Dutch man who suddenly became ill en route from Ushuaia to St Helena Island, presenting with fever, headache, abdominal pain and diarrhoea. He died on arrival at St Helena Island, where his remains are awaiting repatriation to the Netherlands.
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His 69-year-old wife collapsed at OR Tambo while trying to connect to a flight home. She was taken to a nearby health facility around Kempton Park for medical attention, but died shortly thereafter.
The BBC reported that a third passenger onboard MV Hondius had also died, although the cause of death has not been confirmed.
Another passenger, a British national travelling from St Helena to Ascension Island, is in a critical condition and in an isolation ward at a private hospital in Sandton. The unnamed man became ill on the ship and was medically evacuated to South Africa after his condition failed to improve despite medical treatment at Ascension.
“The patient is still in critical condition but is also in isolation so that he doesn’t infect other people,” Mohale said, adding that human-to-human transmission was possible.
However, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the hantavirus is spread mainly by rodents and, generally, “not spread from person to person”.
According to Oceanwide Expeditions, the company operating the ship, two crew members on board also needed urgent medical care, but had been prevented from coming ashore in Cape Verde.
“As of 23:00 [CET] on 3 May 2026, Cape Verdean authorities had not given authorisation to disembark guests requiring medical care or to support with medical screening,” the company said in a statement on Sunday.
According to CNN, passengers will not be allowed to disembark in Cape Verde, the country’s health minister Maria da Luz Lima said on Radio Cabo Verde on Sunday.
Local health authorities visited the ship and assessed the two symptomatic crew members on Sunday.
Mohale said South Africa had not received requests to admit more patients from the ship, which has now travelled far from South African shores.
“If they request us to intervene, we cannot say no,” he said.