This American doctor thought he was going on vacation. He ended up treating hantavirus patients

By Lex Harvey, CNN

(CNN) — Dr. Stephen Kornfeld boarded the MV Hondius in the southern tip of Argentina last month anticipating a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, exploring vast icy expanses and remote islands, seeing wildlife like whales, dolphins and penguins up close.

But a few weeks into his vacation across the Atlantic Ocean, the Oregon doctor jumped into action caring for passengers after a deadly hantavirus outbreak began spreading through the ship, sickening the vessel’s doctor.

“I sort of fell into the role of becoming the ship doctor,” Kornfeld told CNN from aboard the virus-stricken vessel, which is currently making its way to Tenerife in the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago off the southwestern coast of Morocco.

Five hantavirus infections have been identified among people connected to the ship and several more cases are suspected, the WHO said Thursday, noting that it expects more cases to emerge.

The UK Health Security Agency said Friday it identified an additional suspected case in a British national currently in Tristan da Cunha, part of the the remote South Atlantic territory of Saint Helena, where the Hondius earlier stopped.

Three people who were on the ship have died, including an elderly Dutch couple who are thought to have caught the virus while sightseeing in Argentina before joining the cruise.

The roughly 146 passengers and crew still on board, including 17 Americans, who spent several days anchored near Praia, Cape Verde off the west African coast, are set to arrive in Tenerife Sunday, where they will disembark and make their way to their respective countries.

The outbreak has prompted a massive global contact tracing effort as health authorities work to identify those who may have been exposed to the rare rodent-borne virus, which can cause severe respiratory failure. But the World Health Organization (WHO) said it does not anticipate an epidemic anywhere similar to Covid, underlining that there is no evidence of widespread transmission risk.

Kornfeld told CNN’s Erin Burnett that he asked if the ship’s doctor needed help after he heard one of Hondius’ passengers had fallen ill. That passenger, a 70-year-old man from the Netherlands, would go on to die on the boat on April 11.

“Over 12 to 24 hours, it became clear that there were a number of people sick and they were getting sicker,” he said.

The wife of the Dutchman who died had “non-specific symptoms,” Kornfeld said, “a lot of confusion, a lot of weakness.” She was evacuated from the ship and died in hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa while attempting to travel home.

Two other patients, including the ship’s doctor, “had a lot of standard viral symptoms,” Kornfeld said. “A lot of fever, fatigue, flushing, some GI (gastrointestinal) issues, some shortness of breath.”

“At the time, neither one of them looked critically ill. But the fear with hantavirus is you can go from seriously ill to critically ill very quickly.”

The ship’s doctor was transferred to a hospital in Johannesburg last month where he remains in intensive care, but his condition is improving, the WHO said.

Three other passengers from the ship have been evacuated to the Netherlands for treatment. One passenger who departed the ship early tested positive for hantavirus and is being treated in Zurich.

The outbreak has been linked to the Andes strain of hantavirus, a rare but potentially severe virus that in some cases can spread between humans through close contact.

About 30 passengers departed the ship at the end of last month before the outbreak was fully understood, complicating efforts to contain the virus.

Health authorities in several countries including the US, the UK and Canada are monitoring Hondius passengers for potential infection. Hantavirus typically has an incubation period of one to six weeks before patients start showing symptoms.

President Donald Trump on Thursday said an outbreak of the hantavirus is “very much, we hope, under control,” and indicated that the administration would release more information on Friday. “A lot of great people are studying it. It should be fine.”

But Oregon Rep. Janelle Bynum said the federal government is “failing the citizens on that ship” in a video posted to X Thursday.

Bynum said she spoke to Kornfeld, her constituent, and said none of the Americans on board have received guidance on getting home safely.

She called on the CDC and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to “make a real plan” to get them home.

Kornfeld said he is relieved the sick passengers are off the ship and receiving medical care in hospital.

“What happens with hantavirus, ultimate survivability is really dependent on your ability to get critical care at the right time. On the boat, that would not be possible.”

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CNN’s Aleena Fayaz contributed reporting