South Africa identifies Andes hantavirus in cruise ship outbreak

South African scientists identified a rare rodent-borne virus as the cause of a deadly outbreak aboard a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean last month, following a rapid international investigation launched on a national holiday. The effort, led by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in Johannesburg, pinpointed the Andes strain of hantavirus within 24 hours, enabling health authorities to respond to the situation on the Dutch vessel MV Hondius.

The investigation began on May 1 when infectious disease specialist Lucille Blumberg received an urgent email from a U.K.-based colleague. The message concerned an elderly British passenger who had been evacuated from the cruise ship at Ascension Island and hospitalized in Johannesburg with suspected pneumonia. Others on the ship were also ill, and two elderly Dutch passengers had already died.

Authorities on Ascension Island had reported a cluster of pneumonia-like illnesses to the World Health Organization. Blumberg and her team immediately began testing for common culprits like Legionella bacteria and avian influenza, given the ship’s itinerary and the passengers’ activities as bird watchers. All those initial tests...