In a tearful video filmed by Rosmarin for TikTok, the outside world was asked to remember the “uncertainty” for travelers. “What’s happening right now is very real to us,” Rosmarin said. “We are not just a story, we are not just headlines, we are people, people with families, people with lives, people waiting for us at home.”
Before departing Argentina on a 35-day cruise, Rosemarin filmed a video tour of the ship – highlighting the dining hall, the bridge, the outer decks, and his room.
ship position
Three passengers on the Hondias, which left Argentina for Cape Verde on April 11, have died from hantavirus, which is usually spread through contact with rodent feces, urine or saliva. According to NBC News, the disease is believed to have spread during a bird watching expedition.
The World Health Organization is currently reporting five confirmed cases of the virus. This specific strain of hantavirus, known as the Andes strain, can spread from person to person.
After the first infections began to appear on the ship, 30 people aboard the Hondius disembarked on the island of St. Helena on April 24, including the wife of a man who died from the virus. Her husband’s body was also taken out. According to reports, contact tracing was not conducted in St. Helena.
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The unnamed widow then flew to Johannesburg and then attempted to fly to Amsterdam, but was removed from the flight before it could take off for Europe. The woman has since died.
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Many of the people who landed on Saint Helena are now in the United States, particularly California, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, and Virginia. According to NBC News, representatives of the World Health Organization say the outbreak is “not the beginning of a new epidemic or pandemic”.
The Hondius is currently en route to the Canary Islands and is expected to arrive in three or four days, but the President of the Spanish-controlled islands is currently opposed to the ship docking there. Hondius operator Oceanwide Expeditions announced in a statement that no one on board the ship currently has symptoms of the disease.
WHO recommendations
On Wednesday, WHO presented the main facts about Hantavirus:
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Hantaviruses are a group of viruses spread by rodents that can cause serious disease in humans.
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People usually become infected by contact with infected rodents or their urine, feces or saliva.
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Hantavirus infection can cause a wide variety of illnesses, including serious illness and death.
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In the US, hantaviruses can cause hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS), a serious respiratory illness with a case fatality rate of up to 50 percent.
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Andes virus, found in South America, is the only currently known hantavirus with limited human-to-human transmission documented between contacts.
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In Europe and Asia, hantaviruses cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS).
Hantavirus symptoms, diagnosis and treatment
Symptoms of hantavirus can emerge anywhere between one to eight weeks after exposure, and typically include fatigue, fever, headache, muscle aches, stomach pain, nausea, or vomiting.
WHO warns that early diagnosis of hantavirus infection is difficult because many of the early symptoms are similar to those of flu, pneumonia and COVID. According to health experts cited by NBC News, however, the Andes strain of hantavirus does not transmit as easily as the flu or COVID.
Hantavirus can cause two different syndromes: hemorrhagic fever with pulmonary syndrome (HPS), which affects the lungs, and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), which affects the kidneys. HPS is far more dangerous, with a 38 percent mortality rate. USA TodayWhereas HFRS has a mortality rate of 1 percent to 15 percent.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no specific treatment or vaccine available for hantavirus. “Patients should receive supportive care, including rest, hydration, and treatment of symptoms,” the agency says on its website.
If you think you have been exposed
Wear a face mask and go to the nearest hospital or medical facility immediately.
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