Health Department urges calm after rare Hantavirus case confirmed in South Africa Health Department urges calm after rare Hantavirus case confirmed in South Africa
Image: File
A hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship has sparked an urgent contact tracing operation for passengers of a recent commercial flight to South Africa.
The outbreak triggered an international public health alert after one of the victims, an adult female, travelled on Airlink flight 4Z132 from St. Helena Island to Johannesburg on April 25, 2026.
According to a post by Polymarket, the World Health Organization (WHO) urges passengers who took Airlink flight 4Z132 from St. Helena to Johannesburg on April 25 to contact health authorities over hantavirus concerns.
The passenger's condition worsened during the flight and she died upon arrival at a Johannesburg emergency department on April 26. It is believed she was in close contact with the first person to die from the virus on the ship. Subsequent PCR testing confirmed her hantavirus infection.
WHO confirmed that out of the ship's 147 passengers and crew, seven individuals have been identified with the virus, including two laboratory-confirmed cases and five suspected cases.
The vessel, which is currently moored off the coast of Cabo Verde, originally departed from Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1, 2026.
It followed a remote South Atlantic itinerary, including stops in Antarctica, South Georgia, and St. Helena, before the cluster of severe respiratory illnesses was reported to the WHO on May 2.
Symptoms included fever, gastrointestinal issues, rapid progression to pneumonia, and acute respiratory distress syndrome.
The WHO and Airlink are urgently advising the 82 passengers and 6 crew members who were on the flight to immediately contact South African health authorities.
According to a statement, Airlink said they were unaware of the passenger's illness during the flight and have handed over the flight manifest, which includes contact details and seating allocations, to the Department of Health to aid in contact tracing.
The airline emphasised that its aircraft are equipped with hospital-grade High Efficiency Particulate (HEPA) filters designed to repeatedly scrub the cabin air clean.
The initial victim of the outbreak, an adult male, developed symptoms on April 6 and died aboard the ship on April 11. Both he and the female passenger on the Airlink flight had travelled through South America, including Argentina, before boarding the cruise.
A third passenger, an adult male, was medically evacuated from Ascension Island to South Africa on April 27, where he is currently in critical condition in an intensive care unit after testing confirmed his hantavirus infection.
A fourth passenger, an adult female, died on May 2 after presenting with pneumonia. Three suspected cases who have reported high fever or gastrointestinal symptoms remain quarantined on board the ship.
Hantavirus is a rare but potentially deadly disease primarily contracted through contact with the urine, faeces, or saliva of infected rodents. While the exact nature of the passengers' exposure remains undetermined, the WHO notes that limited human-to-human transmission has been recorded in previous outbreaks of the Andes virus, a specific hantavirus species.
The outbreak is currently being managed through a coordinated international response involving medical evacuations, case isolation, and ongoing in-depth laboratory investigations.
IOL