Passengers Evacuated After Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise Ship

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Groups of passengers and crew disembarked from a cruise ship affected by a hantavirus outbreak.

Groups of passengers and crew disembarked from a cruise ship affected by a hantavirus outbreak on Sunday as an international evacuation operation, overseen by global health authorities, got underway and was expected to continue until Monday.

According to government officials, passengers — none of whom were showing symptoms of the virus — were transported to Tenerife airport in military buses before being evacuated aboard government aircraft sent by their respective countries. Officials stressed that evacuees would not come into contact with the public.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended a 42-day quarantine for all passengers from the vessel beginning on Sunday.

Aircraft carrying Spanish and French nationals had departed by 1130 GMT. Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia said Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Türkiye, Ireland, and the United States would follow with evacuation flights for their citizens. A Dutch aircraft was also expected to carry German, Belgian, and Greek nationals.

Garcia added that an Australian aircraft was expected to arrive on Monday to evacuate Australian citizens as well as passengers from New Zealand and several other Asian countries.

Hantavirus, which is typically spread through rodents but can rarely be transmitted from person to person, was first detected on 2 May after South African health officials tested a British passenger who was receiving intensive care treatment. The discovery came 21 days after the first passenger death linked to the outbreak. Two additional former passengers have since died.

The luxury cruise ship departed for Spain on Wednesday from the coast of Cape Verde after the WHO and the European Union requested that Spain oversee the evacuation process following confirmation of the outbreak.

According to the WHO, the first known case may have been infected before boarding the vessel, possibly during travel in Argentina and Chile, with subsequent transmission believed to have occurred onboard.

In an update issued on Friday, the WHO stated that eight former passengers had become ill, including the three individuals who died — a Dutch couple and a German national. Six of the eight cases have been confirmed as hantavirus infections.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus travelled to Tenerife to oversee the evacuation efforts and said WHO specialists were working alongside Spanish health officials to conduct testing among passengers.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom military deployed a specialist medical team to the remote island of Tristan da Cunha to assist a second suspected British case involving a former passenger residing there.

Four patients remain hospitalised in South Africa, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, while a suspected case in Germany later tested negative.

Spain’s Health Ministry stated that the ship had passed the required health inspections, noting that hundreds of cruise ships arrive annually from Argentina and Chile — regions where hantavirus exists — yet outbreaks linked to cruise vessels have never previously occurred in Europe.

The ministry also confirmed that no rodents had been detected onboard the ship.

Spanish officials stated that passengers would remain aboard until their assigned evacuation aircraft had arrived.

Thirty crew members will remain onboard as the vessel sails to the Netherlands, where it will undergo full disinfection procedures.

Source: Reuters



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