Dozens of passengers left hantavirus-stricken cruise ship after 1st fatality
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THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dozens of passengers left a cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak on April 24 without contact tracing, nearly two weeks after the first passenger died on board, the ship operator and Dutch officials said Thursday.
The company had previously said the body of the Dutch man who died on April 11 was taken off the ship on the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena, where his wife also disembarked. She then flew to South Africa and died there.
The company said Thursday 29 passengers left the vessel, while the Dutch Foreign Ministry put the number at about 40. The company had not previously acknowledged that dozens more people left the ship at that time.
The people who left the ship to return to their home countries were of at least 12 different nationalities, Oceanwide Expeditions said. It said there were also two people whose nationalities were unknown.
