By Elsie Kamsiyochi
Passengers aboard a luxury cruise ship struck by a rare hantavirus outbreak have begun leaving the vessel in a carefully coordinated international evacuation effort, as health officials race to prevent further infections and reassure the public that the risk remains low.
The evacuation process started on Sunday in Tenerife, Spain, where groups of passengers and crew disembarked from the affected ship under the supervision of global and national health authorities. Travelers, many visibly exhausted after days of uncertainty at sea, were transported directly to Tenerife airport aboard military buses and placed onto government-chartered flights headed to their home countries.
Authorities stressed that none of the departing passengers were showing symptoms of hantavirus at the time of evacuation. Officials also emphasized that strict measures are being taken to ensure evacuees have no interaction with the general public during transportation or quarantine procedures.
The outbreak, which has already claimed three lives, has prompted an unprecedented international health response. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended a 42-day quarantine period for everyone who traveled on the ship, beginning Sunday, as experts work to contain what is believed to be the first known ship-borne outbreak of the virus.
Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia confirmed that evacuation flights for Spanish and French nationals departed early Sunday, while additional aircraft from countries including Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Ireland, and the United States were scheduled to transport their citizens home. A Dutch evacuation flight was also expected to carry German, Belgian, and Greek passengers.
Australia is set to join the operation, sending a plane on Monday to transport Australian citizens alongside passengers from New Zealand and several Asian countries. Officials expect the final evacuation flights to conclude by Monday afternoon.
The cruise ship at the center of the crisis had traveled from the coast of Cape Verde toward Spain after the WHO and European Union requested that Spain oversee passenger evacuation once the outbreak was identified. What began as a routine luxury voyage has now turned into an international medical emergency involving multiple governments, infectious disease specialists, and emergency response teams.
Hantavirus is typically spread through contact with infected rodents or their droppings, though in very rare circumstances, person-to-person transmission can occur. The virus was first identified aboard the cruise after South African health officials tested a British passenger who had been placed in intensive care. The diagnosis came 21 days after the first passenger death, raising alarm among health experts and leading to an urgent investigation.
Since then, two additional former passengers—a Dutch couple and a German national—have died. WHO officials reported that eight people linked to the cruise have become ill, with six confirmed infections connected to the outbreak.
Health investigators believe the virus may have first entered the ship before departure, potentially through a passenger who had traveled in Argentina or Chile, regions where hantavirus is known to exist. Subsequent infections are believed to have spread during the voyage.
Despite growing concern, authorities say there is no evidence that rodents—the most common carriers of hantavirus—were present aboard the ship. Spanish officials confirmed that inspections found no signs of rodents onboard, reinforcing theories that the outbreak may have been introduced by an infected traveler rather than through environmental contamination.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus traveled to Tenerife to personally oversee evacuation efforts and coordinate testing procedures alongside Spanish health authorities. Medical teams continue screening passengers for symptoms while tracking possible exposures.
Meanwhile, the crisis has stretched far beyond Europe. In a dramatic move, the British military deployed a specialist medical team to the remote South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha to assist a suspected British hantavirus patient who had traveled on the ship and later returned home.
Four patients linked to the outbreak remain hospitalized in South Africa, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. However, one suspected case in Germany later tested negative, providing a small measure of relief amid mounting fears.
Europe’s public health agency has classified all passengers aboard the MV Hondius as high-risk contacts out of caution, though experts insist the danger to the wider public remains minimal. Spanish health officials noted that hundreds of cruise ships arrive annually from South American regions where hantavirus exists, yet outbreaks connected to maritime travel have never previously occurred in Europe.
As the final passengers prepare to leave Tenerife, approximately 30 crew members are expected to remain onboard and sail the vessel to the Netherlands, where it will undergo a full disinfection process.
For many passengers, the ordeal marks the end of a terrifying journey that transformed a luxury expedition into a public health crisis—one now being closely watched by governments and disease experts around the world.
Source Reuters
Original article
Comments