A drone view of the cruise ship MV Hondius, carrying passengers suspected of having cases of hantavirus on board, leaves Praia, Cape Verde, May 6. Reuters-Yonhap

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — More than two dozen passengers left a cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak on April 24 without contact tracing, nearly two weeks after the first passenger died on board, the ship operator and Dutch officials said Thursday.

The news raised concerns that the virus could spread as travelers returned home, although experts say the risk to the wider public is considered low.

The Dutch-based company had previously said the body of the Dutch man who died on April 11 was taken off the ship on the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena on April 24, when his wife also disembarked. She then flew to South Africa a day later and died there.

The company said Thursday 29 passengers left the vessel at St. Helena, while the Dutch Foreign Ministry put the number at about 40. The company had not previously acknowledged that dozens more people left the ship at that time.

The people who left the ship to return to their home countries were of at least 12 different nationalities, Oceanwide Expeditions said. It said there were also two people whose nationalities were unknown.

The first confirmed case of hantavirus in a passenger on the ship was only on May 2, the World Health Organization (WHO) has previously said. That was in a British man evacuated from the ship to South Africa from Ascension Island three days after the St. Helena stop.

Three passengers have died in the outbreak, and several others are sick. Three people, including the ship’s doctor, were evacuated Wednesday while the ship was near the West African island country of Cape Verde and taken to Europe for treatment.

The body of the third fatality, a German woman, is still on board the ship after she died on May 2.

The vessel is now sailing to Spain’s Canary Islands, a voyage that is expected take three or four days, with more than 140 passengers and crew members still on board.

Source: Korea Times News