Spanish authorities are preparing to receive more than 140 passengers and crew from the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius when it reaches Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Health officials plan controlled evacuations to an isolated area after a hantavirus outbreak linked to several deaths and confirmed infections. The World Health Organisation says the risk to the wider public is low.
International
-Sathish Raman
Spanish authorities were preparing to manage the arrival of a Dutch-flagged cruise ship linked to a hantavirus outbreak. The MV Hondius was carrying more than 140 passengers and crew. The ship was expected to reach Tenerife in the Canary Islands on Sunday. Officials said evacuations would be controlled to limit any public contact.
Spanish authorities are preparing to receive more than 140 passengers and crew from the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius when it reaches Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Health officials plan controlled evacuations to an isolated area after a hantavirus outbreak linked to several deaths and confirmed infections. The World Health Organisation says the risk to the wider public is low.
Three people have died since the outbreak began, and five former passengers were known to be infected. Oceanwide Expeditions said on Thursday there were no people with symptoms on board. The World Health Organisation assessed the wider public risk as low. Spanish emergency services chief Virginia Barcones said passengers would enter a fully isolated area.
Hantavirus outbreak on MV Hondius: Risk assessment and transmission
On Friday, the WHO said a flight attendant linked to the case tested negative. The possible infection had raised concerns about spread. Christian Lindmeier said: “The flight attendants negative result should ease concerns among the public,\” and added: \”The risk remains absolutely low,\” and: \”This is not a new COVID.\”
Hantavirus usually spreads through inhaling dust from infected rodent droppings. It does not pass easily between people. However, the Andes virus found in this outbreak may spread in rare cases. Symptoms often appear between one and eight weeks after exposure. Health agencies across four continents were tracing contacts of those who left earlier.
Hantavirus outbreak passenger tracing: Disembarkations and flight contacts
More than two dozen people left the ship on April 24, nearly two weeks after the first onboard death. Dutch officials and the operator said they left without contact tracing. The WHO said hantavirus was first confirmed in a passenger on May 2. Authorities were also trying to find others who met those travellers.
The KLM flight attendant worked on a Johannesburg to Amsterdam flight on April 25. The flight attendant later became ill and entered an isolation ward in Amsterdam on Thursday. An infected cruise passenger briefly boarded that flight. The Dutch woman was removed in Johannesburg due to illness and later died there.
Dutch public health officials were tracing flight passengers who had contact with the ill woman. South African authorities were also tracking people linked to earlier ship departures. Focus was on an April 25 flight from St. Helena to Johannesburg. That flight came a day after some passengers disembarked on the island.
On Friday, UK authorities reported a suspected third British case from the ship. The UK Health Security Agency said the person was on Tristan da Cunha. The ship stopped there in April. Officials did not provide the person’s condition. Two other Britons were confirmed infected, with one in the Netherlands and one in South Africa.
Spanish health officials said on Friday that a woman in Alicante had symptoms consistent with hantavirus. Testing was underway. Secretary of State for Health Javier Padilla told reporters the woman was on the same flight as the Dutch woman. That flight was taken after travel connected to the cruise and the infection.
Hantavirus outbreak response in Tenerife: Evacuation and repatriation plans
Canary Islands officials aimed to reassure residents about exposure risk. Once the ship reached Tenerife, passengers would move in small boats to buses. Transfers would happen only when repatriation flights were ready. Officials said vehicles would be isolated and guarded. Airport sections used for transit would also be cordoned off.
Spain requested medically equipped aircraft in case passengers developed symptoms, Barcones said. The goal was avoiding contact with the general population. It was unclear if such aircraft would be available. The United States agreed to send a plane for its 17 citizens. The British government said it would charter a plane for nearly two dozen nationals.
Health authorities continued monitoring cases and contacts linked to the MV Hondius. Officials kept describing the public risk as low, while tracing travel links across several countries. Spain planned controlled transfers in Tenerife to support repatriation. Investigations and medical testing remained active for suspected cases in the UK and Spain.
With inputs from PTI
