A Spanish passenger was sprayed with disinfectant by Spanish government officials before boarding the plane after disembarking from the hantavirus-infected cruise ship MV Hondius at the airport in Tenerife, Canary Islands (Photo: AP)
An American passenger evacuated from a hantavirus-hit cruise ship has tested positive for the virus, health officials confirmed Sunday, with the latest news saying the passenger has not yet shown any symptoms.As the virus spreads, many countries have quarantined and monitored passengers returning from ships.The infected American, one of 17 U.S. citizens evacuated from the ship, showed no symptoms and will be transferred to the Nebraska Biocontainment Center upon arrival in Omaha. For precautionary purposes, other passengers will also be evaluated and monitored at the national quarantine department.Just hours earlier, French Prime Minister Sebastien Le Cornou announced that one of the five French passengers also developed symptoms during the flight and that flights to Paris had resumed. All five passengers immediately underwent rigorous quarantine testing.The MV Hondius-hantavirus cruise ship that arrived in Tenerife, Spain, in the Canary Islands on Sunday, was hit by an outbreak of the deadly hantavirus, killing three people and infecting at least five passengers. During the emergency evacuation, more than 140 passengers from more than 20 countries were present.The World Health Organization has assured that the epidemic does not pose a major threat to the public.WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “This is not another new coronavirus.” “The risk to the public is low. People should not panic.”Health experts say hantavirus is mainly spread through contact with contaminated rodent feces and is not easily transmitted from person to person. But in rare cases, the Andes strain detected in this outbreak—a specific type of hantavirus found primarily in South America—can spread from person to person in rare cases. Additionally, symptoms may appear one to eight weeks after exposure.WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove said countries receiving passengers have been advised to take active daily health surveillance and quarantine measures. Some countries have implemented strict quarantine protocols for up to six weeks
