Ship passenger makes best of quarantine after hantavirus outbreak

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When Jake Rosmarin boarded the MV Hondius for what he expected to be a 35-day trip across the South Atlantic, he described the cruise as his home for the voyage. By the time he spoke to The Associated Press during quarantine in the United States, Rosmarin, 30, was instead one of Americans under observation at specialized facilities designed for dangerous infectious diseases after three people died and others were sickened by a hantavirus outbreak aboard the ship.

Rosmarin said he expects to spend 42 days at the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. He said 14 other American passengers from the ship were also in Omaha, while another person who tested positive for the virus was in the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit and two others were being monitored in the serious communicable disease unit at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

Public health officials have said the risk of the virus spreading from passengers into the general public is very low and that healthy people are being quarantined as a precaution. Rosmarin said he planned to make the best of his isolation, describing his room as more like a small hotel suite than a hospital room, with a closet, smart TV, bathroom, small refrigerator, bed, chair and a stationary bike. He also said he had windows but kept the blinds closed to avoid peering media.

Rosmarin said the routine includes protective steps to limit contact. He said doctors wear full personal protective equipment, including gowns and masks, when they come into his room, and that beyond doctors, he cannot receive visitors. He said most nurses also did not come into his room even during meals, and that he opens the door with a mask on while staff place food toward him on a tray.

“It’s a very nice room,” Rosmarin said. “I already ordered a mattress pad, new pillows. I think, for now, my plan is to take it one day at a time and that’s the best I can do.” On Tuesday, Rosmarin said he received a special treat when nurses brought him an iced horchata with oat milk and vanilla cold foam, which he posted on social media.

In describing his days during quarantine, Rosmarin said he left his cabin about 15 minutes each day to refill his water, get fresh air, and grab food for breakfast and lunch. He said passengers practiced social distancing and masked up on the ship once people began to get sick, and that passengers were also advised to stay in their cabins as much as possible.

Rosmarin said he did not become sick during the outbreak. He said he first understood the situation was a hantavirus the night they were supposed to disembark, rather than during earlier parts of the voyage. Hantavirus, AP reported, usually spreads from rodent droppings and is not easily transmitted between people, but the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases, with symptoms typically appearing between one and eight weeks after exposure.

AP reported that 11 people aboard the MV Hondius fell ill, with at least nine confirmed cases, and that three people on the cruise died, including a Dutch couple health officials believe were the first exposed while visiting South America. The last remaining passengers disembarked Monday and boarded flights to more than 20 countries to enter quarantine, as the ship’s remaining travelers were sent to different specialized units.

Rosmarin said he began traveling the world in 2022 after quitting his job as a media buyer and described himself as an influencer partner with the ship’s operator, with the company covering the cost of his trip. He said the route included stops at remote islands in the South Atlantic, including South Georgia Island, and he recalled seeing penguin and seal colonies and albatrosses during the voyage.

Rosmarin described the MV Hondius as an expedition vessel rather than a cruise ship, saying biosecurity measures were in place because passengers would be disembarking on islands, including some with fragile ecosystems. He said he could not get off the ship once the outbreak was discovered, which extended his planned five-week trip to six weeks. Waiting for him at home in Boston is his fiancée, and Rosmarin said the couple plans to marry next year.