23 Hantavirus Cruise Passengers Went Home Before WHO Stepped In

A deadly virus outbreak aboard a cruise ship may have spread far beyond the vessel itself ... because nearly two dozen passengers reportedly wandered across the globe before health officials finally tracked them down.

According to reporting from Spanish newspaper El País, 23 passengers aboard the MV Hondius got off the ship during a stop on the remote Atlantic island of Saint Helena in April -- despite the fact people onboard had already gotten sick and at least one passenger had died.

A Spanish passenger still aboard the ship told the outlet the travelers had no clue they may have been exposed to hantavirus -- a potentially deadly disease with a mortality rate WHO reports could be as high as 40% -- when they disembarked and headed home.

The passenger claimed the group scattered internationally ... returning to North America, Australia, Taiwan, England, the Netherlands and beyond. One of the passengers who got off the vessel has reportedly since been hospitalized in Switzerland and tested positive for hantavirus.

Even more alarming ... the passenger claims health authorities and the World Health Organization allegedly didn't begin contacting some of the former passengers until this week -- more than two weeks after they left the ship.

Hantavirus is caused by contact with infected mouse or rat feces and urine. The WHO confirmed Wednesday the outbreak onboard the Hondius involves the Andes virus strain -- the only known hantavirus capable of spreading from person to person through close and prolonged contact involving bodily fluids.

So far, there are eight total cases linked to the outbreak ... including three infections from passengers who were evacuated on Wednesday.