Hantavirus-Hit Cruise Ship Reaches Spanish Port Of Tenerife As Evacuation Begins

ANKARA, May 10   (Bernama-Anadolu) --  A cruise ship affected by a hantavirus outbreak arrived off Spain’s Tenerife Island, where passengers and crew are set to disembark and return to their home countries, media reports said early Sunday, Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported.

The MV Hondius, carrying 150 passengers and crew members from 23 countries, reached waters near Granadilla Port early Sunday at around 5.30 am local time (0430GMT), with authorities preparing a large-scale medical and evacuation operation, according to EFE News Agency.

Health officials said six passengers have confirmed hantavirus infections and two others are suspected cases, with three fatalities reported, including two on board.

Passengers, all currently asymptomatic, will be transferred in small groups by boats to shore for medical screening before boarding repatriation flights.

“They will be first assessed… checked to see if they have symptoms or not,” officials said, adding that an epidemiological questionnaire will be conducted.

Authorities said the ship will remain anchored offshore and will not dock, with passengers transported in groups of five before being taken by buses to the airport located about 6 miles (nearly 9.65 kilometres) away.

Spanish nationals are expected to be among the first evacuated, with some transferred to a military hospital in Madrid for quarantine lasting between one and two weeks, depending on medical evaluations.

Seventeen US passengers will be flown to the US and monitored at a specialised quarantine unit in Nebraska.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has classified the outbreak as a Level 3 emergency response, the agency’s lowest emergency activation level.

The outbreak, involving the Andes strain of hantavirus, has resulted in five confirmed cases, including three deaths, according to World Health Organization (WHO) officials.

Scientists confirmed the outbreak was caused by the rare Andes variant of hantavirus, the only known strain capable of human-to-human transmission, usually through close contact.

The WHO said two passengers who later died had travelled through Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay before boarding the ship.

CDC officials said passengers will be monitored for about six weeks, reflecting the incubation period of the virus, while health authorities in several US states are also tracking travellers who had already left the vessel before the outbreak was confirmed.

-- BERNAMA-ANADOLU