Hantavirus: Global race underway to trace passengers who left ship before outbreak confirmed

The outbreak has killed three people and caused global alarm.

The MV Hondius cruise ship anchored at a port in Praia, Cape Verde on Wednesday. Picture: AP Photo/Misper Apawu

Authorities around the world are racing to trace dozens of passengers who disembarked from the cruise ship at the centre of a deadly hantavirus outbreak before isolation measures were implemented.

It emerged for the first time on Thursday that at least 29 passengers of 12 nationalities left the MV Hondius on 24 April after the first fatality, prompting a scramble to identify and track their movements since then.