Hanta Virus Cases Linked to Hondius Cruise Ship

Ever since a couple of people that travelled on the cruise ship Hondius died from a Hanta virus the spread of the infection has been in the daily news. The WHO website reports 11 cases of which 8 are confirmed hanta virus infections and 3 are probable. All are linked to the Hondius cruise ship travel. The Andes variant of Hanta is the only known variant that can be transmitted between humans but even for this variant this is uncommon. I don’t know about you but 11 cases for around 200 passengers on the ship does not feel like it actually matches the term ‘uncommon’. Anyway, I got curious where the strange name Hondius comes from as in Dutch hond is the word for dog. And sure enough the ship is named in honor of the Dutch cartographer Jodocus Hondius (1563-1612), with Hondius being a latinisation of De Hondt (the dog). Better to call yourself Jacob Hondius than Jacob Dog, don’t you agree?