Hantavirus outbreak: Cruise ship passengers start disembarking in Spain, all to be tested for symptoms

The quarantined cruise ship began disembarking on Sunday after arriving in Tenerife, Spain’s Canary Islands, as an outbreak of hantavirus on a cruise ship sparked international concern.The MV Hondius sailed from Cape Verde on May 6 and arrived in Tenerife early Sunday following a deadly outbreak linked to an Andean strain of hantavirus. Three people have died from the infection and five passengers who disembarked earlier later tested positive.Spanish authorities, the World Health Organization (WHO) and cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions said more than 140 people were still on the ship when the evacuation began, and none had symptoms.Passengers were taken ashore in small motorboats, which could carry 5 to 10 people at a time. According to the Spanish Ministry of Health, Spanish nationals are being prioritized during the evacuation process.Everyone leaving the ship must undergo medical screening before boarding an evacuation flight arranged by their respective country. Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia said: “The entire operation went normally.”Evacuation flights are expected to continue into Sunday and Monday, authorities said. Passengers and crew come from more than 20 countries.WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus traveled to Tenerife to oversee the operation with Spanish health and interior ministry officials. Authorities said people disembarking from the ship will be kept isolated from local residents.Hantaviruses are usually spread through contact with rodent feces, urine or saliva and are not thought to spread easily from person to person. However, the Andean variant identified in this outbreak has in rare cases shown the ability to spread from person to person. Symptoms may appear one to eight weeks after exposure.The Spanish passengers are expected to be transferred to a medical facility for isolation. Oceanwide Expeditions said there were 13 Spanish passengers and a Spanish crew member on board.Meanwhile, the United States, Britain and the Netherlands confirmed evacuation plans for their nationals, while Australia is sending a plane, expected to arrive on Monday, to pick up citizens from neighboring countries such as Australians and New Zealand.U.S. passengers will be quarantined at a medical center in Nebraska, while British citizens will be under hospital observation upon arrival. France said the five French citizens will be repatriated and monitored in hospital for 72 hours before starting a 45-day home quarantine.Norway also sent an ambulance plane specially equipped to handle high-risk infectious cases.Passengers disembarking from the plane have been asked to leave most of their belongings behind and only carry essential items such as documents, mobile phones and chargers.Some crew members, as well as the body of a passenger who died during the voyage, will remain on the ship for disinfection procedures in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The cruise operator said the journey is expected to take about five days.The outbreak was first reported by the World Health Organization on May 2 after several passengers on the Dutch-flagged cruise ship developed severe respiratory illnesses during the voyage. Investigators believe the infection may have originated from a passenger who spent more than three months traveling through Argentina, Chile and Uruguay before boarding the ship on April 1. The passenger later developed symptoms and died on board. WHO said current evidence suggests the virus may be further spread through close contact on ships, with the Andean hantavirus strain – a rare variant capable of limiting human-to-human transmission – found in confirmed cases.Since then, an international response involving many countries, WHO and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control has been launched to contain the outbreak. Symptomatic passengers have been medically evacuated, confirmed cases have been quarantined, and extensive contact tracing has been initiated in multiple countries. Passengers and crew are asked to remain in the cabin, monitor for symptoms for 42 days and follow strict infection control measures. Authorities are also conducting genomic sequencing and epidemiological investigations to trace the exact source of exposure and better understand how transmission occurred on board.