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Three passengers have died and at least three others are ill after a suspected hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius, a Dutch-flagged polar expedition vessel crossing the Atlantic from Argentina to the Canary Islands. The unprecedented shipboard outbreak — hantavirus has never before been confirmed on a cruise vessel — has exposed gaps in maritime medical evacuation protocols, with Cape Verde authorities delaying disembarkation of symptomatic passengers while the WHO coordinates an international response involving at least three countries.