Hark and listen, dear readers, for there rises
A ship’s adventure with a tiny, deadly virus.
For here is a tale of a small pest and a trip,
Of danger lurking in dust from the rodent’s hip.
Beyond the Four Corners’ desert scrub,
The land of the running deer mouse and its cub,
Here, there are pathogens, old and clever,
Hidden under skies that know nothing of danger ever.
In America, the Sin Nombre is king,
Running through rodents’ blood and brain cells.
But in the south, the Andes virus thrives,
And, very rarely, spreads from skin to skin.
These rodents cry no tears nor grieve,
Instead spreading their danger through the debris, they weave.
Their urine, droppings, and saliva make it clear,
Their territory a dangerous place to be near.
Should humans stir the dirt and dust,
Invisible particles are stirred up and then rushed.
Once breathed inside, this virus finds its place,
Making vessels inside our body rage and race.
From Asia’s fields to Europe’s wooded scene,
Hemorrhagic fevers make people ill indeed.
A global menace, traced by experts’ watchful eye,
Tens of thousands sickened since they first flew by.
On that fateful cruise in the year ’26,
The MV Hondius set sail from Argentinean shores.
Into the ice of the Antarctic, through the South Atlantic spray,
Silently boarded the ship in a deadly way.
This cruise ship visited Argentina’s ports,
The perfect hunting ground for rats and rots.
Since the ship started sailing in April that year,
The illness lurked in the body of a passenger dear.
Seventy years had come and gone for the old gentleman,
Feeling the invisible touch of Hantavirus’s venom.
Feverish, his gut felt like a storm, and he
Rapid, breathless, and short-lived, became.
His wife, sitting by his sickbed in despair,
Started feeling similar fears and dread.
Three victims succumbed to the disease in May,
A Dutch couple and a German man passed away.
Behind, there’s a British victim gasping,
Admitted to Johannesburg ICU ward for capping .
Two lab-confirmed cases strike the bell,
While five suspected cases make the tale swell.
The cruise ship anchored off the coast of Cape Verde,
A floating quarantine ordered for the sake of health.
Coordinated responses made by WHO and nations,
To ensure the sick safely reach their destinations.
Fear whispers ‘plague’ into the foaming sea,
But for public health, the risk is ‘quite low,’ said WHO.
Now listen, dear reader, as body cries,
As Hantavirus attacks the lungs and dies.
Also known as HPS, or Pulmonary Syndrome,
An inflammatory condition in the lungs’ zone.
The illness starts with fever, chills and pains,
Splitting headache, stomach cramps and gastrointestinal strains.
Muscle aches, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea,
Dizziness, fatigue and general weakness and hysteria.
Incubation period lasts a week or two or four,
A hidden ambush before death does pour .
Suddenly, it crashes, making a patient lose pressure,
Labored breathing, blocked by fluid in the alveolar sacs.
Flooded with liquid from a microvascular flood,
A condition caused by infected rodent’s blood .
But in Asia and Europe, another monster is awake,
Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome, named HFRS .
With blurred vision, severe back pain and hemorrhage in the kidneys,
It takes time to recover after all those tragedies .
There’s no pill, no vaccine that can cure it,
All we can offer is support treatment in hospitals.
Intensive Care Unit, monitoring you and helping you breathe,
Is the only fragile life rope that you receive.
How should we protect ourselves from this dusty danger?
Wisdom of a man can save us from its anger.
Make sure that holes and gaps are sealed shut,
Preventing the mice and rats from coming to the gut.
Put your traps both inside and outside the door,
Never leaving tempting crumbs on the floor.
When you clean the storage sheds and cabins,
Follow the guidelines from the manuals.
Don’t use the vacuum and broom to sweep the dust,
This will give lungs a good chance to burst.
Put on mask and gloves as a protective skin,
Before starting the wet-cleaning regimen.
Ten percent solution of bleach will solve the issue,
Be not hasty when soaking droppings from rodents!
Dead intruders should be disposed of carefully,
Double bags will keep the hands safely from misery.
As human-to-human transmission is rare,
Close contacts deserve particular care.
Treat nature respectfully, don’t forget about its laws,
And you’ll travel much less through rodent’s hazardous dust.
Now the cruise ship is drifting silently, a floating sign,
Nature’s small puzzles can cause such a significant line.
References
World Health Organization. (2026). Disease Outbreak News: Hantavirus cluster linked to cruise ship travel – Multi-country. https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2026-DON599
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cited in UofL Health. (2026). What is Hantavirus? https://uoflhealth.org/articles/what-is-hantavirus/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cited in NYAS. (2025). Understanding Hantavirus and how to stay safe. https://www.nyas.org/ideas-insights/blog/understanding-hantavirus-and-how-to-stay-safe/
Kwasi Omaro 