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The case of a cruise ship on its way to the Canary Islands being struck by an infectious rat-borne illness called Hantavirus is gaining momentum.

In December 2019, the news of the COVID virus, which began in Wuhan China, was initially not paid attention to before it in effect closed down the world, including Jamaica’s tourism industry, as people were mandated to be quarantined and masks had to be worn.

The Canary Islands government is not allowing passengers from this cruise ship to disembark for fear of contaminating its people.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says there could be more cases of Hantavirus across the world, but it is not expected to be an epidemic like COVID.

The infected cruise ship, the MV Honidus is being monitored  and the worry now is that it could spread this rat-borne virus across the world, with some of its passengers returning to their homes in the U.S., UK, Denmark and Australia.

Hantaviruses are a group of viruses carried by rodents and transmitted through their urine and droppings. Found across the world in Europe, Africa and Asia, they can cause diseases which range from mild flu-like sickness to severe respiratory illness.

The infection occurs when droppings from rats are inhaled and can spread from human to human.

Addressing this deadly rat virus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation Dr. Tedros said: “ Last Saturday, the UK notified WHO under the International Health Regulations of a cluster of passengers with severe respiratory illness on a Dutch-flagged cruise ship, the MV Honidus, which had travelled from Argentina to Cape Verde.

“So far, eight cases have been reported, including three deaths. Five of the eight cases have been confirmed as hantavirus, and the other three are suspected.

“ Given the incubation period of the Andres Virus, which can be up to six weeks, it’s possible that more cases may be reported. While this is a serious incident, WHO assesses public health risk as low.”

There has been a significant increase in the rat population in Jamaica over the last year. St. James, St. Catherine and Portland have implemented rodent control measures to stem the growing problem.

Both Jamaica’s Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Health have yet to fulsomely address this hantavirus threat.

When COVID first broke out in Jamaica, Minister of Health Dr Christopher Tufton expressed concern about cruise ship passengers in Jamaica and the possibility of contagion.

Tourism accounts for 30 per cent of Jamaica’s economy, earning over US$4 billion a year. 

Last year, Jamaica welcomed over 1.2 million cruise ship passengers, close to half its population figure.

Jamaica’s tourism product has been impacted by last year’s Category 5 Hurricane Melissa, which has seen many hotels close for repairs. His rat-borne virus has to be closely monitored.