Hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship was series of ‘weird coincidences,’ Boston travel influencer tells ‘GMA’ - The Boston Globe

The Boston-based travel influencer aboard a cruise ship struck by a hantavirus outbreak in the South Atlantic said Tuesday he was relieved to finally get off the ship after spending a week isolated in his cabin. Jake Rosmarin, appearing by video call on “Good Morning America,” said that few onboard the M/V Hondius realized the severity of the rare disease early on. Less than a week into the trip, a Dutch passenger fell sick onboard and later died. Several other passengers would fall ill, and two more died — one after disembarking, the other while still onboard. “For me, it just felt like weird coincidences,” Rosmarin said Tuesday. “I didn’t think anything was wrong until we found out it was hantavirus. That’s when I was scared.” Rosmarin is in quarantine in Omaha, Neb., along with 14 other Americans who were aboard the Hondius. Health officials evacuated roughly 150 passengers and crew from the ship on Sunday, after it reached the Canary Islands. The Hondius was on a monthlong trip to several remote South Atlantic islands when the outbreak struck. Health officials have said the Dutch couple who first contracted the virus may have been exposed before boarding the ship in Argentina. Since then, 11 people have reported symptoms, including nine confirmed cases of hantavirus. Three people have died. Hantavirus usually spreads by inhaling contaminated rodent droppings. It is not easily transmitted between people, but the variant detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to in rare cases. Symptoms — which can include fever, chills, and muscle aches — usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure. “When you hear about a virus you don’t really know about, you Google it,” Rosmarin said. “And when you Google hantavirus, its definitely a scary virus to be seeing.” On Tuesday, he also appeared on Today on NBC and Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN. Rosmarin, who posts videos of his travels to tens of thousands of followers on social media, is not the only person with New England ties on the ship. Two people with New Hampshire addresses were also aboard, according to state health officials. Those two individuals have returned to the US but were not in New Hampshire, officials said. It’s not clear if they are also in quarantine at the National Quarantine Unit in Omaha. Health officials have stressed that, despite the outbreak, the risk to the general public remains low. Rosmarin told GMA that he is not feeling any symptoms. Nevertheless, he said he was prepared to spend the next 42 days in isolation, adding that “here, I’m in the best care possible.” He posted a photo of a note left by federal health officials to his social media welcoming him to the quarantine facility. “We know you have been through an ordeal and are likely exhausted from a lack of sleep and enduring the unknown,” read the note. “We have experts here ready to provide world class care for you and will help you return home safely.” Material from Globe wire services was used in this report. Camilo Fonseca can be reached at camilo.fonseca@globe.com. Follow him on X @fonseca_esq and on Instagram @camilo_fonseca.reports.