At a time when the world has not yet recovered from the shock of the “Corona” pandemic, a luxury cruise to observe birds and wildlife in the far south of the Atlantic Ocean has turned into a global health crisis that brought to mind scenes of quarantine, fear and isolation, after the deadly “Hantavirus” virus spread on board the “MV Hondius” ship, causing 3 deaths and dozens of suspected infections among passengers belonging to more than 23 countries.
According to an extensive report published by the New York Times by journalists Jason Horowitz, Claire Moses and Amelia Nirenberg, the journey began on April 1 from the Argentine city of Ushuaia, amid a festive atmosphere for bird and wildlife lovers, before gradually turning into a “sea nightmare” under the threat of a rare virus carried by rodents known as “Hanta-Andes.”
The ship, which flies the Dutch flag and is used for expeditions in the polar regions, was carrying 175 people, including passengers and crew, and the prices of the trip ranged between 8,000 and 27,000 dollars, and included remote stops such as South Georgia, Tristan da Cunha, St. Helena and Cape Verde.
On April 12, Captain Jan Dobrogowski gathered the passengers inside the ship’s lounge to inform them of the death of one of the passengers, the 69-year-old Dutchman Leo Schilberwoerd. He confirmed that day that the death was “natural” and that the man was “not contagious,” according to the ship’s doctor’s diagnosis.
But within a few weeks, his wife, Miriam Schilberwoard-Hausmann, also died, in addition to a German passenger who was on the flight, while the World Health Organization later confirmed that the second and third deaths were caused by the “Hantavirus” virus, with the virus likely being the cause of the first death as well.
The report indicated that health authorities around the world dealt with the incident with extreme caution, especially since the virus known to be linked to rodents can be transmitted between humans in certain circumstances, which quickly brought back concerns about “Covid-19.”
As of Friday, the World Health Organization had monitored 10 infections linked to the ship, including 8 confirmed and two suspected infections, while quarantine was imposed on dozens of passengers who returned to their countries for fear of symptoms appearing, which could take up to 6 weeks.
Among the injured was the ship’s doctor, who had treated the Dutch couple, in addition to a crew member and a British tour guide.
The report recounted the details of the trip, which began normally, with passengers attending lectures on birds and astronomy, eating group meals, and participating in entertainment evenings, before the scene completely changed with the outbreak of the disease.
Leo Schilberward, known for his intense passion for bird watching, had spent the months preceding the trip traveling with his wife in South America in search of rare species of birds, and documented his observations through the “eBird” platform, where he recorded nearly 6,000 bird species during his travels.
The report stopped at hypotheses that talked about the possibility of the virus being transmitted from a garbage dump near Ushuaia in Argentina, but the Argentine authorities denied the existence of any evidence of this, considering the matter to be part of a “misinformation campaign” that harms the image of the tourist area.
As the crisis worsened, the ship turned into something like an “isolated island,” as passengers were prevented from disembarking in Cape Verde on May 3, before the World Health Organization intervened and asked Spain to receive the ship in the Canary Islands.
But even there, the decision faced political and popular objections, after local officials expressed their fear of the virus being transmitted, to the point that the President of the Canary Islands sent the Spanish Minister of Health a report from artificial intelligence talking about the ability of rats to swim and reach land.
Ultimately, the ship docked in Tenerife amid exceptional procedures, where officers boarded it in white protective suits, before the passengers were subjected to examinations and taken to quarantine, while the ship later sailed back to the Netherlands to undergo complete sterilization operations.
This incident reflects the extent of global concern about any new health outbreak, especially in a world that is still living under the influence of the heavy memory of “Corona,” where a rare virus on board an isolated ship is enough to put the entire world back on alert.
