Hantavirus Cruise Ship Completes Mass Evacuation in Tenerife
The cruise ship MV Hondius, struck by a rare hantavirus outbreak that killed three people, arrived in Spain's Tenerife on May 10 and began evacuating all 147 passengers and crew to their home countries. Health officials worldwide coordinated a carefully managed repatriation operation with WHO Director-General Tedros assuring the public the risk remains low.
Evacuation Underway
Passengers have been disembarking the cruise ship at the center of the hantavirus outbreak throughout the day Sunday in a carefully managed repatriation operation involving multiple nations, with the vessel MV Hondius having docked at the Spanish Island of Tenerife carrying 147 people.
Health Assessment
WHO chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said "Based on scientific assessment and based on evidence, the risk (to the public) is low" after the ship arrived in Tenerife, Spain. A total of eight cases, including three deaths, have been reported in an outbreak of hantavirus on a cruise ship.
Repatriation Process
As many as 46 people have so far disembarked the hantavirus-hit MV Hondius cruise ship, with so far passengers from Spain, France, Canada and the Netherlands evacuated. The ship and its crew are scheduled to continue to Rotterdam in the Netherlands, where the crew will disembark and the ship will be disinfected.
Regional Tensions
In the hours leading up to the Hondius's arrival, there was an escalating war of words between administrations, with the president of the Canary Islands government accusing the central government of failing to respond to requests and announcing he would instruct the Port Authority not to authorise the ship to anchor.