A virus on a ship – level 1

A virus on a ship

08-05-2026 15:00

People on a big cruise ship are very sick. Three people die from a virus. One man from the UK is in a hospital. He is very sick.

The virus comes from small animals like rats and mice. Officials think that the passengers touch something dirty from these animals on a trip. The ship is near Africa. The people must stay on the boat. The leaders of the nearby country are afraid of the virus.

There are 149 people on the boat. They want to go home, but they must stay. They may have to stay on the water for eight more days. It is a very sad and bad time for the families on the ship. Doctors are watching everyone closely to see who gets sick next.

Difficult words: cruise ship (a very large ship for a holiday), passenger (a person who is travelling in a car, bus, train, or ship but is not driving it), dirty (not clean).

You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.

Which small animals are believed to have carried the virus onto the cruise ship?

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