The evacuation of all passengers from the Dutch-flagged luxury cruise ship MV Hondius, which was hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak, was completed on Monday. Flights from Australia and the Netherlands transported remaining passengers to their home countries.
Key Takeaways
All passengers have been evacuated from the hantavirus-hit MV Hondius cruise ship docked off Tenerife, Spain. The outbreak has resulted in three deaths and ten confirmed cases across multiple countries.
- Evacuation flights completed on Monday
- Ten confirmed hantavirus cases, including three fatalities
- Passengers undergoing quarantine and medical assessment in their home countries
- WHO recommends 42-day quarantine for all passengers
According to Spanish health officials cited by Reuters and TimesLIVE, the final flights included one from Australia evacuating six passengers and another from the Netherlands taking 18, along with other nationals who did not have repatriation flights arranged. The evacuation process began Sunday with Spanish nationals disembarking first in small groups of five.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that ten people who had left the ship fell ill, including three deaths—a Dutch couple and a German national. Six cases were confirmed as hantavirus infections with four additional suspected cases. The WHO recommended a 42-day quarantine period for all passengers starting from Sunday.
The MV Hondius was carrying 147 passengers and crew when the outbreak was first reported to the WHO on May 3. Thirty crew members remained onboard to sail the ship to the Netherlands for disinfection. Health officials emphasized that while hantavirus is typically spread by rodents, it can also be transmitted person-to-person in rare cases of close contact.
According to BBC, an American national and a French national tested positive for hantavirus after returning from the MV Hondius cruise ship. The US health department reported that another American showed mild symptoms on the repatriation flight, with both positive passengers traveling in biocontainment units. French Health Minister Stephanie Rist stated that 22 contact cases have been traced related to the French national who tested positive.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control stated that all passengers on the MV Hondius are considered high-risk contacts as a precautionary measure, according to Reuters. WHO officials are racing to draw up step-by-step guidance for managing the outbreak, which is the first ever recorded on a cruise ship.
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