The Canary Islands are gearing up for a delicate medical operation after an outbreak of hantavirus on board a cruise ship. Several countries have already started repatriating their nationals, while Spanish authorities have announced strictly controlled procedures for the arrival of the vessel.
Spanish authorities are mobilizing ahead of the arrival of the cruise ship MV Hondius, flagged in the Netherlands, which is expected this weekend at the island of Tenerife, in the Canary archipelago, AP News reports. The ship has been struck by a hantavirus outbreak that has already claimed the lives of at least three passengers. According to Spanish authorities, more than 140 passengers and crew members will need to be taken care of upon arrival. Evacuation operations will be carried out in a completely isolated zone in order to avoid any risk of spread.
Virginia Barcones, the Spanish head of emergency services, specified that disembarked passengers would be received in a strictly secured and controlled perimeter. The vessel is scheduled to reach Tenerife on 9 and 10 May.
In the meantime, Dutch authorities maintain close contact with the ship’s operator and with the countries whose nationals are aboard. Several governments have already begun organizing the repatriation of their citizens. The United States has agreed to send a plane to the Canary Islands to evacuate its 17 nationals on board. The United Kingdom plans to repatriate almost two dozen British citizens as well.
Despite the recorded deaths, the World Health Organization estimates that the risk for the general population remains low. Hantavirus is usually transmitted by inhaling airborne particles contaminated with rodent excrement, and person‑to‑person transmission is rare. Symptoms can appear from one to eight weeks after exposure.
The cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions reported on 7 May that none of the other passengers or crew members still on board were currently showing symptoms. However, health authorities are continuing their investigations across several continents to identify and monitor people who left the ship before the outbreak was detected.
On 24 April, roughly two weeks after the first death on board, more than twenty passengers from at least twelve different countries had already disembarked without any contact‑tracing mechanism having been triggered