Dutch couple on cruise ship who died may have contracted hantavirus from bird-watching tour at garbage dump

The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed that the type of virus in the deadly outbreak onboard the MV Hondius cruise ship is the Andes hantavirus, the only strain known to spread from person to person.

However, human transmission is said to be uncommon.

"This is the only (hantavirus) strain that is ​known to cause human-to-human transmission, but such transmission is very rare and ... only happens due to very close contact," South Africa's health ministry said, according to Reuters.

Three dead

At least three people, a Dutch couple and a German national, have died from the outbreak.

WHO said in its latest update that eight cases of hantavirus — three confirmed and five suspected — have so far been identified in people who were on the ship.

WHO has also confirmed that a Swiss man who had travelled back to Switzerland after being on board the ship is receiving care for hantavirus at a hospital in Zurich.

Investigating source of outbreak

Health authorities of Argentina are reportedly working to determine whether their country is the source of the outbreak.

The ministry said on May 6 that it would send experts to the far south area of Ushuaia to capture and test rodents, which typically transmit the disease.

This comes after it was reported that the Dutch couple may have contracted the virus during a bird-watching outing at a landfill in Ushuaia before boarding the ship.

MV Hondius

The MV Hondius is a 107.6m polar cruise ship that can accommodate 170 passengers in 80 cabins, along with 57 crew members, 13 guides and one doctor.

On Mar. 20, the ship sailed from Ushuaia, southern Argentina, to Cape Verde, an archipelagic country off west Africa.

The ship is expected to dock in Spain's Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, within three days, Reuters reported.

About 150 tourists from various countries are aboard the vessel.