By Gloria Ogbonna
A former police officer who was aboard the expedition cruise ship MV Hondius during a deadly hantavirus outbreak says he is recovering but remains in isolation as doctors continue to evaluate his condition.
Martin Antsee, 56, was airlifted from the vessel to the Netherlands for specialized treatment after becoming ill while working as an expedition guide. Speaking to Sky News on Thursday, Antsee offered a cautious but hopeful update on his condition.
“I’m doing okay. I’m not feeling too bad,” he said. “There are still lots of tests to be done. I have no idea how long I’ll be in the hospital for. I’m in isolation at the moment.”
Antsee explained that doctors expect to have a clearer understanding of his health status later in the week, once additional test results are available.
Family Describes “Very Traumatic” Ordeal
Antsee’s wife, Nicola, told the The Daily Telegraph that the past several days have been deeply distressing for their family.
“The fear with this virus is it can deteriorate very quickly, so it’s been a bit up and down for him,” she said. “I don’t believe he’s in imminent danger now, but it was horrible.”
She added that her husband is relieved to be off the ship after his condition fluctuated during the voyage. “He had it quite mild, then it got a bit more serious, and now he’s stable again,” she explained.
Antsee is one of three individuals evacuated from the Hondius after cases of hantavirus were identified on board.
Multiple Evacuations and International Response
According to Sky News, 19 passengers and four crew members aboard the ship are British nationals. A 69-year-old British man was previously evacuated to a private hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he remains in intensive care.
Dr. Maria van Kerkhove, epidemic and pandemic preparedness director for the World Health Organization (WHO), said Thursday that the man is “doing better,” while another British patient transferred to the Netherlands is currently stable.
Seven British passengers disembarked when the ship docked at St. Helena on April 24. Two have since returned to the United Kingdom and are self-isolating. Four remain on the island, coordinating with local health authorities. A seventh passenger was initially unaccounted for, but the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed Thursday that the individual has been located outside Britain.
In total, 30 people left the vessel at St. Helena, prompting an extensive contact tracing effort. Health officials are particularly concerned about a Dutch woman who appeared visibly ill when she departed the ship. She flew to Johannesburg and later boarded a flight to the Netherlands but was removed from the plane before departure. She died the day after arriving in Johannesburg and tested positive for hantavirus.
Isolation and Repatriation Efforts
UKHSA Chief Scientific Officer Prof. Robin May stated that none of the British passengers still aboard the Hondius have tested positive so far. However, authorities are working to repatriate those remaining on the ship as quickly as possible.
“The Foreign Office is leading on that,” May said, noting that once passengers return to the U.K., they will likely be required to self-isolate for 45 days.
May emphasized that the risk of transmission from asymptomatic individuals is believed to be extremely low.
Understanding the Virus
Hantavirus can be a severe and potentially fatal illness, killing up to one-third of infected individuals through respiratory failure. Symptoms may take weeks to appear, and there is currently no specific cure.
Most strains of hantavirus are transmitted through contact with infected rodent droppings. However, only one strain — the Andes variant — is known to spread between humans. Health experts increasingly believe this strain may be responsible for the outbreak aboard the Hondius.
Dr. van Kerkhove stressed that even the Andes strain spreads primarily through close, intimate contact, making it far less transmissible than viruses such as COVID-19.
“This is not COVID, this is not influenza — it spreads very, very differently,” she said.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the global public health risk from the outbreak remains “low.” He added that the outbreak has been traced to two individuals who had recently traveled through Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay on a bird-watching trip, including visits to areas inhabited by rodent species known to carry the virus.
Because hantavirus can incubate in humans for up to eight weeks, Tedros warned that additional cases could still emerge.
Current Case Count and International Coordination
So far, three confirmed cases of hantavirus infection have been identified aboard the Hondius, along with five suspected cases. Three individuals from the ship have died, though only one fatality has been officially confirmed as resulting from hantavirus as of Thursday.
Four Americans are currently aboard the vessel. Spanish civil protection director Virginia Barcones said the U.S. government has indicated its willingness to send an aircraft to retrieve American citizens directly.
As health authorities across multiple countries continue monitoring passengers and conducting contact tracing, the incident underscores the challenges of managing infectious disease outbreaks in remote maritime settings — and the uncertainty that still surrounds the evolving situation aboard the MV Hondius.
Source Breitbrat
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