A Dutch cruise ship with nearly 150 people aboard, including 17 Americans, was waiting for help off the coast of Cape Verde in the Atlantic Ocean on Monday after a suspected outbreak of the rare hantavirus killed three passengers and left at least three others seriously ill, the World Health Organization and the ship’s operator said. The MV Hondius, which was on a weekslong polar cruise from Argentina to Antarctica and then several isolated islands in the South Atlantic, had requested help from local health authorities on Sunday after making its way to the island of Cape Verde off the coast of West Africa, but no one has yet been allowed to disembark, the company operating the cruise said. There are 88 passengers — including one who has died — and 61 crew members, two of whom are sick, onboard, the operator said Monday. The passengers include 17 Americans, 19 from the U.K. and 13 from Spain, among other nationalities.

Full report : A cruise ship is waiting for help after a suspected outbreak of rare hantavirus onboard killed 3.