Experts suggest this mind-boggling quarantine period for MV Hondius passengers facing terrifying hantavirus outbreak

Distraught passengers onboard the stranded MV Hondius could face quarantine for up to eight weeks, a health expert warned Tuesday – as officials scrambled to contain a deadly hantavirus outbreak on the cruise liner. 

“I’m sure people are isolated or quarantined in their rooms or cabins, but unfortunately, that quarantine period can take up to eight weeks,” New Jersey-based emergency medicine physician Sampson Davis told The Post. “The virus usually has a quick onset, but it can linger up to about eight weeks before it has an impact.”

Hantavirus is typically only spread through rodent droppings, but one rare strain, the Andes virus, can spread between people and carries a 40% mortality rate – and it’s likely the culprit behind the outbreak, which has killed three passengers and sickened at least seven others, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.