Trapped at Sea: Does Quarantine on a Cruise Ship Stop the Deadly Hantavirus?
Three people have died and several others are in critical condition after a suspected hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius. This has sparked a global health debate about how well quarantines work on ships. The ship is currently anchored off the coast of Cape Verde because it was not allowed to dock at any of the local ports. It has kept its 147 passengers and crew in their cabins to stop the spread of the rare rodent-borne disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) is looking into the scary possibility that hantavirus can spread from person to person, especially the Andes strain that is common in Argentina, where the ship came from. Most of the time, people get hantavirus by breathing in dried rodent droppings. Experts say that "cabin-only" isolation can help reduce direct contact, but...










