Cruise ship with passengers infected with hantavirus reached Tenerife

The MV Hondius will dock at the port of Granadilla in the Canary Islands, and the passengers will be evacuated to their countries after testing to confirm that they have no symptoms, officials said.

Since the ship’s departure from Argentina last month, there have been three deaths linked to hantavirus, a rare disease most commonly caused by exposure to the urine or feces of infected rodents. Several other people were evacuated from the ship for treatment.

The ship will anchor at the “safest” distance from the port, according to local officials. Passengers will be transported to the shore in smaller boats with a capacity of up to 10 people, distributed according to nationality, according to information from tour operator Oceanwide Expeditions.

Several countries, including the US, Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands, are sending planes to evacuate their citizens.

“The order of disembarkation will be coordinated with the arrival of repatriation flights,” said Oceanwide, adding that passengers’ luggage would remain on board and be returned to them later.

An official with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the 17 American passengers, none of whom have symptoms, will be transported to the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

The National Quarantine Unit, a federally funded facility, is located there. After a brief assessment, the passengers will spend the next 42 days under home observation, with monitoring expected to be done at least once a day, the official said.

The 14 Spanish passengers are expected to disembark the ship first, wearing FFP2 masks. Masks will also be worn by everyone involved in transport and logistics, Spanish Health Minister Mónica García said on Saturday.

They will be transported to a military hospital, where they will stay in single rooms without visitors. Upon arrival and seven days later, they will be subjected to PCR testing, the Spanish Ministry of Health announced.

The arrival of the ship caused tensions in the Canary Islands. The head of the region, Fernando Clavijo, said earlier this week that he was opposed to the ship docking.

Port workers in Tenerife also protested, expressing concern over the lack of information about possible risks.

The ship and its crew are scheduled to continue their journey to Rotterdam in the Netherlands, where the crew will disembark and the ship will be disinfected.

The hantavirus outbreak was first reported to the World Health Organization on May 2, which said the outbreak posed a low risk to the general population.

(Vijesti.ba)