{"id":652550,"date":"2026-05-06T04:31:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T04:31:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/652550\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T04:31:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T04:31:18","slug":"influencers-aboard-mv-hondius-cruise-ship-reveal-hantavirus-outbreaks-first-moments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/652550\/","title":{"rendered":"Influencers aboard MV Hondius cruise ship reveal hantavirus outbreak’s first moments"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was meant to be the journey of a lifetime for Boston-based travel influencer Jake Rosmarin, crossing the South Atlantic Ocean from Ushuia in Argentina to Cape Verde off the coast of Africa.<\/p>\n

“This was easily one of the most exciting moments of the entire trip,” Rosmarin said as he travelled to Tristan Da Cunha, a British Overseas Territory that holds the title of most remote inhabited island in the world.<\/p>\n

But just days later, his excitement was gone, replaced by tears and uncertainty.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Jake Rosmarin made a tearful statement regarding his experiences on board the MV Hondius to an Instagram audience of 51,000 followers. (Instagram: Jake Rosmarin)<\/p>\n

“What’s happening right now is very real for all us here,” Rosmarin said, from aboard the hantavirus-stricken ship.<\/a><\/p>\n

The MV Hondius, part of the Oceanwide Expeditions’ cruise ship fleet, was on a 34-day voyage across the Atlantic Ocean carrying 147 passengers and crew.<\/p>\n

It made international headlines after an outbreak of hantavirus killed three passengers.<\/a><\/p>\n

“We’re not just a story, we’re not just headlines, we’re people,” Rosmarin said.<\/p>\n

“With people waiting for us at home.”<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

The latest data from the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed two cases had been substantiated in a laboratory setting, with another five suspected.<\/a><\/p>\n

One patient is critically ill, with three others reporting mild symptoms.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The MV Hondius has been banned from docking at Cape Verde, but the Spanish government will allow it to stop at the Canary Islands. (Reuters)<\/p>\n

“The outbreak is being managed through a coordinated international response, and includes in-depth investigations, case isolation and care, medical evacuation and laboratory investigations,” the WHO said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Ruhi \u00c7enet departed the ship before the extent of the outbreak became clear. (Supplied: Ruhi \u00c7enet)<\/p>\n

Ruhi \u00c7enet, a Turkish content creator, travel blogger and documentary filmmaker, was also travelling aboard the MV Hondius, but left the ship after the first death was announced.<\/p>\n

“When one of the passengers died during their month-long journey on the expedition vessel, I honestly thought it was because of the rough ocean conditions,” \u00c7enet said in a video posted to his Instagram account.<\/p>\n

“But it turns out the situation is much worse than we were told.”<\/p>\n

\u00c7enet shared footage of an Oceanwide Expedition employee announcing one of the passengers “sadly passed away last night”.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

“I’m told by the doctor we’re not infectious,” an unnamed employee said in the video.<\/p>\n

“The ship is safe when it comes to that.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Ruhi \u00c7enet shared a video of an Oceanwide Expeditions staff member announcing the first death to the passengers. (Supplied: Ruhi \u00c7enet)<\/p>\n

\u00c7enet said his thoughts were still “with the people of the ship”, but he thought Oceanwide Expeditions staff should have implemented quarantine measures sooner.<\/p>\n

“I wish the vessels’ management had taken this problem more seriously from the very first step,” he said.<\/p>\n

Cape Verde, where the voyage was originally meant to terminate, banned the MV Hondius from docking<\/a>, but the Spanish Health Ministry has announced it will accept the ship at the Canary Islands.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Three people have died so far during the outbreak. (Supplied: Oceanwide Expeditions)<\/p>\n

In a statement, Oceanwide Expeditions said three people would be evacuated to Cape Verde in specialised aircraft, to be transported to the Netherlands for further treatment from there.<\/p>\n

The rodent-transmitted illness that killed Gene Hackman’s wife<\/a><\/p>\n

Betsy Arakawa, wife of actor Gene Hackman, died of a hantavirus infection a full week before her husband. Medical experts have said it has a low mortality rate and was mostly spread by rodents.<\/p>\n

“Our plan is to proceed to the Canary Islands, either Gran Canaria or Tenerife, which will take 3 days of sailing,” it said.<\/p>\n

“Discussions are ongoing with relevant authorities.”<\/p>\n

Rosmarin, who is still on board, said “there’s a lot of uncertainty and that’s the hardest part”.<\/p>\n

“All we want now is to feel safe, to have clarity and to get home.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was meant to be the journey of a lifetime for Boston-based travel influencer Jake Rosmarin, crossing the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":652551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[64,63,129800,314457,137,315609,315611,314459,314464,52226,315608,315610],"class_list":["post-652550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cape-verde","tag-hantavirus","tag-health","tag-jake-rosmarin","tag-medical-evactuations","tag-mv-hondius","tag-oceanwide-expeditions","tag-outbreak","tag-ruhi-cenet","tag-travel-influencers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/652551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}