2026-05-04T05:07:00-0400 / https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hantavirus-outbreak-apparent-cruise-ship-atlantic-africa-cape-verde/
更新时间：2026年5月4日 / 美国东部时间早上6:35 / 哥伦比亚广播公司/美联社
南非开普敦电 ——世界卫生组织和南非卫生部周日表示，大西洋上一艘邮轮暴发罕见的疑似汉坦病毒疫情，已造成3人死亡，其中包括一对老年夫妇，另有至少3人染病。
世卫组织在给美联社的一份声明中表示，相关调查正在进行中，目前已确认至少一例汉坦病毒感染病例。联合国卫生机构称，其中一名患者正在南非一家医院的重症监护室接受治疗，世卫组织正与当地当局合作，将船上另外两名出现症状的患者转运上岸。
荷兰外交部告诉法国新闻机构法新社，该部门“正忙于研究将船上数人从海上医疗转运的可能性”。
一位发言人表示：“如果能够实施转运，外交部将协调相关工作。”
运营该邮轮的荷兰公司表示，邮轮目前在佛得角海岸附近海域停泊。佛得角是非洲西海岸外的岛国，当地当局正在提供协助，但尚未允许任何人下船。该公司称，船上两名需要紧急医疗救治的患者为船员。
据路透社报道，世卫组织欧洲区域主任汉斯·亨利·P·K·克鲁格博士周一在一份声明中表示：“普通公众面临的风险仍然很低，无需恐慌或实施旅行限制。”
路透社报道称，佛得角卫生官员周一表示，局势已得到控制，不会对陆地上的民众构成风险，但不会允许该邮轮在首都普拉亚的港口停靠。
汉坦病毒在全球各地均有分布，是一类主要通过接触受感染啮齿动物（如大鼠和小鼠）的尿液或粪便传播的病毒。去年，已故演员吉恩·哈克曼的妻子贝齐·阿拉卡瓦在新墨西哥州因汉坦病毒感染去世，该病毒因此受到关注。
哈克曼随后约一周左右，在他们的家中因心脏病去世。
汉坦病毒如何致命
据美国疾病控制与预防中心介绍，汉坦病毒会引发两种严重综合征：汉坦病毒肺综合征，一种影响肺部的重症疾病；以及肾综合征出血热，一种影响肾脏的重症疾病。
尽管罕见，但世卫组织表示，汉坦病毒感染可在人与人之间传播。目前尚无针对性治疗方法或治愈手段，但及早就医可提高存活几率。
世卫组织表示：“世卫组织知晓并正在支持一起涉及大西洋航行邮轮的公共卫生事件。详细调查正在进行中，包括进一步的实验室检测和流行病学调查。我们正在为船上的乘客和船员提供医疗护理和支持。病毒测序工作也在同步开展。”
南非卫生部表示，这艘悬挂荷兰国旗的“洪迪厄斯号”邮轮约三周前从阿根廷出发，开启了一场包括前往南极洲、福克兰群岛及其他停靠点的巡航之旅，最终计划于大西洋另一端抵达西班牙加那利群岛。
遇难者
南非卫生部在一份声明中表示，第一名遇难者是一名70岁男子，在船上死亡，其遗体在南大西洋英国领地圣赫勒拿岛被转运。该部门称，男子的妻子在南非一家机场试图搭乘航班返回荷兰祖国时晕倒，随后在附近一家医院去世。
荷兰外交部一位发言人向路透社证实，有两名荷兰乘客遇难，但未提供更多细节。
该部门确认，约翰内斯堡一家医院重症监护室中的患者为英国公民。这名患者在邮轮离开圣赫勒拿岛后，在大西洋另一偏远岛屿阿森松岛附近发病，随后从那里被转运至南非。
南非卫生部表示，疫情暴发时船上约有150名游客。多家在线旅游运营商称，“洪迪厄斯号”是一艘专业极地邮轮，通常搭载约70名船员。
运营该邮轮的海洋远征公司表示，第三名遇难者的遗体目前仍在佛得角海域的船上，该公司的首要任务是确保两名患病船员得到医疗救治。
该公司称：“当地卫生当局已登轮评估两名出现症状人员的状况，他们尚未就是否将这些人员转移至佛得角接受医疗护理作出决定。”
世卫组织表示，其正与各国当局及邮轮运营商合作，开展“全面的公共卫生风险评估”，并为船上仍在人员提供支持。
与此同时，南非国家传染病研究所正在约翰内斯堡地区开展接触者追踪工作，以确认是否有其他人员接触过在南非的感染乘客。
Apparent hantavirus outbreak kills 3 on cruise ship, sickens at least 3 more, health officials say
2026-05-04T05:07:00-0400 / https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hantavirus-outbreak-apparent-cruise-ship-atlantic-africa-cape-verde/
Updated on: May 4, 2026 / 6:35 AM EDT / CBS/AP
Cape Town, South Africa — A suspected outbreak of the rare hantavirus infection on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean killed three people, including an elderly married couple, and sickened at least three others, the World Health Organization and South Africa’s Department of Health said Sunday.
In a statement to The Associated Press, WHO said an investigation was underway but that at least one case of hantavirus had been confirmed. One of the patients was in intensive care in a South African hospital, the U.N. health agency said, and it was working with authorities to evacuate two others with symptoms from the ship.
The Dutch foreign ministry told French news agency AFP it was “busy looking at the possibilities to medically evacuate a few people from the ship.”
“If this can take place, the ministry of foreign affairs will coordinate it,” a spokesperson said.
The Dutch company that operates the ship said it was sitting off the coast of Cape Verde, an island nation off Africa’s west coast, and local authorities were assisting but had not allowed anyone to disembark. It said the two sick people onboard requiring urgent medical care were crew members.
The WHO’s regional director for Europe, Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, said in a statement Monday, “The risk to the wider public remains low. There is no need for panic or travel restrictions,” according to the Reuters news agency.
Reuters reports that Cape Verdi health officials said Monday the situation is under control and there’s no risk to people on land, but it won’t let the vessel dock at the port of its capital, Praia.
Hantaviruses, which are found throughout the world, are a family of viruses spread mainly by contact with the urine or feces of infected rodents like rats and mice. They gained attention after the late actor Gene Hackman’s wife, Betsy Arakawa, died from hantavirus infection in New Mexico last year.
Hackman died around a week later at their home from heart disease.
The cruise ship MV Hondius is seen off the port of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, on May 3, 2026. AFP via Getty Images
How hantaviruses can kill
Hantaviruses cause two serious syndromes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a severe disease that effects the lungs, and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, a severe disease that affects the kidneys.
While rare, WHO said hantavirus infections can be spread between people. There is no specific treatment or cure, but early medical attention can increase the chance of survival.
“WHO is aware of and supporting a public health event involving a cruise vessel sailing in the Atlantic Ocean,” the organization said. “Detailed investigations are ongoing, including further laboratory testing, and epidemiological investigations. Medical care and support are being provided to passengers and crew. Sequencing of the virus is also ongoing.”
South Africa’s Department of Health said the ship, the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius, had left Argentina around three weeks ago for a cruise that included visits to Antarctica, the Falkland Islands and other stops. It was due to ultimately head to Spain’s Canary Islands on the other side of the Atlantic.
The victims
The first victim was a 70-year-old man who died on the ship and whose body was removed in the British territory of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, the South African health department said in a statement. The man’s wife collapsed at an airport in South Africa trying to take a flight to her home country of the Netherlands, the department said. She died at a nearby hospital.
A Dutch Foreign Ministry spokesperson confirmed to Reuters that two Dutch passengers had died but didn’t provide any details.
The department identified the patient in intensive care in a hospital in Johannesburg as a British national. It said that person fell ill near Ascension Island, another remote island in the Atlantic, after the ship left Saint Helena, and was transferred from there to South Africa.
Around 150 tourists were onboard at the time of the outbreak, South Africa’s health department said. Several online tour operators said the Hondius, which is described as a specialist polar cruise ship, usually travels with around 70 crew members.
Oceanwide Expeditions, the company that runs the cruise, said the third victim’s body was still onboard the ship in Cape Verde and its priority was to ensure the two crew members who were ill received medical care.
“Local health authorities have visited the vessel to assess the condition of the two symptomatic individuals,” the company said. “They are yet to make a decision regarding the transfer of these individuals into medical care in Cape Verde.”
WHO said it was working with national authorities and the ship’s operators to conduct a “full public health risk assessment” and provide support for those still onboard.
South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases, meanwhile, was conducting contact tracing in the Johannesburg region to identify if other people were exposed to the infected passengers in South Africa.