World news | The Guardian•May 3
Three passengers dead after suspected hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship
A suspected outbreak of the rare hantavirus infection on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean killed three people – including an elderly married couple – and sickened at least three others, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and South Africa’s health department said on Sunday. The WHO said an investigation was under way but that at least one case of hantavirus had been confirmed. A British man, 69, who became ill on the ship was taken to a private health facility in Johannesburg, according to the South African health ministry, which said he tested positive for hantavirus.
