Spanish authorities are making arrangements to welcome over 140 passengers and crew members from a cruise ship affected by hantavirus as it heads towards the Canary Islands. Health officials in the Canary Islands are planning meticulous evacuations upon the ship’s anticipated arrival at Tenerife on Sunday. The passengers will be taken to a secure and isolated area for further assessment.
The United States and the United Kingdom have agreed to dispatch planes to evacuate their citizens from the cruise ship. Canadian consular officials are en route to meet with four Canadians still on board the vessel.
Although three individuals have succumbed to the outbreak and five passengers who disembarked the ship have tested positive for hantavirus, the cruise operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, stated that there are no symptomatic individuals on board the Dutch-flagged ship, MV Hondius. The World Health Organization has assessed the risk to the general public as low.
A recent development revealed that a flight attendant, who briefly interacted with an infected cruise passenger, tested negative for hantavirus. The WHO emphasized that the risk of transmission remains minimal, stating that hantavirus is not akin to COVID-19.
Health authorities worldwide are actively tracing and monitoring passengers who left the ship before the outbreak was identified, as well as individuals who may have had contact with them. The ship’s outbreak was confirmed on May 2, following the departure of over two dozen people from various countries without contact tracing.
Concerns arose when a Dutch woman, who was a passenger on the ship and later died, potentially transmitted the virus to the KLM flight attendant. The Dutch public health service is conducting contact tracing for individuals who were in contact with the deceased woman.
In Canada, three individuals, including two who disembarked from the ship and one who had contact with a symptomatic person, are isolating in Ontario and Quebec. On the other hand, a British national on Tristan da Cunha, a remote British territory, is suspected of having contracted hantavirus.
Spanish health authorities are conducting tests on individuals showing hantavirus symptoms in Alicante. Two Britons from the ship have tested positive for the virus, with one hospitalized in the Netherlands and the other in South Africa.
As the ship nears Tenerife, Spanish officials plan to evacuate passengers via small boats to buses only after ensuring repatriation flights are ready. Precautionary measures, including isolated transport and cordoned-off airport areas, will be implemented to prevent potential exposure to the general public.
Spain has requested medically equipped aircraft in case passengers exhibit symptoms to prevent any contact with the broader population. However, the availability of such aircraft remains uncertain.