Three people have died after an outbreak of hantavirus on a cruise ship within the Atlantic Ocean — and former victims have shared their scary experiences with the infection.
The MV Hondius departed from Argentina on April 1 and was scheduled to make its final stop in Cape Verde after a 33-day cruise. Nevertheless, officials within the West African nation refused to permit passengers to disembark.
After three days anchored off the archipelago, the ship is now sailing towards Spain’s Canary Islands.
Now, former Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhüttl has opened up about his terrifying battle with hantavirus in 2012, revealing that the near-fatal ordeal caused his organs to expand and his heart rate to plummet.
Nevertheless, Hasenhüttl, who was around 44 on the time, didn’t catch the virus in an exotic location. He actually caught it at home, sweeping his terrace.
Chatting with The Mirror, Hasenhüttl said that in the first place he confused his symptoms with exhaustion, having recently returned from a mountain bike ride during a training camp.
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Unbeknownst to him, his body was actually showing signs he had contracted hantavirus.
He said: ‘I went to bed and that’s when the pain in my head began. It felt like there was a needle in my head. Then I began to notice severe back pain. It felt like there was a knife in my back.’
Hasenhüttl said that doctors later found the virus was causing his liver and kidneys to rapidly expand and press against his other organs, causing the back pain.
He spent two weeks in intensive care, but even after he was released, the ordeal was not over. The previous manager said he was ‘out for such a protracted time’ after contracting the disease.
‘My heartbeat would wake me up due to how intense it was; I’d just feel this thud in my chest,’ he added.
Hasenhüttl also noted that his weight fluctuated, causing his kidneys to weaken.
He described recovery as a ‘waiting game,’ adding that he tried to ‘push away from bad thoughts’ because he felt young, healthy and robust.
‘I assumed, ‘Why should I die from a virus?’
Finally, Hasenhüttl said that doctors found the source of the infection.
‘I used to be cleansing the terrace with no mask, and I feel I inhaled the dust,’ he said. ‘It takes about two to 3 weeks until it breaks out and symptoms show.’
Previous victims share their experience
A handful of other people have spoken about their experiences of hantavirus.
Canadian Lorne Warburton was admitted to the hospital in 2023 and placed on life support after contracting the disease. Chatting with BBC Outside Source, he described the sickness as ‘torture’ and ‘hell on Earth.’
Having began with ‘COVID-type symptoms, body aches, a chronic headache and fatigue,’ things soon escalated, and Warburton became ‘drenched in sweat and couldn’t breathe.’
Warburton said: ‘The degree of illness and sickness that I went through was hell on earth, it was torture, to undergo that and to have the opportunity to bounce back.’
Thankfully, after three weeks in hospital, he made a full recovery.
In 2019, Christian Ege from Germany was also diagnosed with hantavirus. Like Warbuton, he developed COVID-like symptoms that felt like a ‘strange flu.’
For 3 days, Ege suffered from stomach flu, vomiting, and dizziness before a blood test confirmed he had kidney failure and sepsis. Ege was subsequently rushed to the hospital, where he spent days within the ICU with a neck catheter for dialysis access.
Ege told the BBC: ‘The kidneys recovered normally, however it was the coincidence of a bacterial and a viral escalation at the identical time that was a bit worrying for a few days needless to say.’
In the times because the MV Hondius outbreak, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed five cases of the virus, with three more suspected. A 3rd British national connected with the ship has ‘suspected hantavirus’, it was revealed today.
In a press conference earlier this week, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove from the UN Health Agency, stated that, though that is ‘not the following COVID,’ it’s still a ‘serious infection.’
She continued: ‘The danger to most people is low… I actually just wish to assure people, that is something quite different.’
What’s hantavirus?
The World Health Organisation describes hantaviruses as a ‘group of viruses carried by rodents that could cause severe disease in humans.’
It states that individuals typically get infected through contact with infected rodents or their urine, droppings or saliva.
Hantavirus infections could cause a spread of illnesses, including severe disease and even death, as we’ve sadly seen on the MV Hondius cruise ship.
WHO adds that hantavirus has a history of manifesting in other ways, depending on geographical location.
Within the Americas, infection ‘has been known to guide to hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS), a rapidly progressive condition affecting the lungs and heart.’
In Europe and Asia, hantaviruses ‘have been known to cause haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), which primarily affects the kidneys and blood vessels.’
What are the symptoms of hantavirus?
WHO notes that hantavirus symptoms in humans normally begin between one and eight weeks after exposure.
Nevertheless, the timeline will depend on the style of virus the person has been infected with.
Still, typical symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches and gastrointestinal symptoms equivalent to abdominal pain, nausea or vomiting.
Depending on the virus type, there are other symptoms to look out for, too.
Those affected by HCPS may develop a cough and shortness of breath as a consequence of the buildup of fluid within the lungs.
In HFRS patients, later stages of infection can include low blood pressure, bleeding disorders and kidney failure.
Unfortunately, hantavirus could be difficult to diagnose early, as most of the symptoms are also present in other common febrile (having or showing the symptoms of a fever) or respiratory illnesses.
In response to WHO, this includes influenza, COVID-19, viral pneumonia, leptospirosis, dengue or sepsis.
Hantavirus treatment
The federal government website states that currently there isn’t any vaccine or specific antiviral treatment for hantavirus infections.
Moderately, treatment is ‘supportive and based on symptoms, equivalent to hospital care and respiratory support.’
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