Countries prepare to evacuate hantavirus ship passengers

Countries are preparing to evacuate their citizens from the luxury cruise ship hit by a deadly strain of hantavirus, as health authorities say the risk of the virus spreading is low.

The MV Hondius is due to anchor near Tenerife in the Canary Islands, off the northwest coast of Africa and governed by Spain, early on Sunday (local time).

The World Health Organisation briefed member states with nationals on board on Saturday on how to manage the process, advising active monitoring of passengers for a 42-day period from the last point of exposure.

“I need you to hear me clearly: this is not another Covid. The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low,” World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote in a letter to the public published on X earlier on Saturday.

He said he wanted to take the unusual step of sharing a statement to address people’s concerns.

“Passengers will be ferried ashore at the industrial port of Granadilla, far from residential areas, in sealed, guarded vehicles, through a completely cordoned-off corridor, and repatriated directly to their home countries. You will not encounter them."

THREE PEOPLE HAVE DIED IN OUTBREAK

The cruise left Argentina in March with around 150 passengers and stopped in the Antarctic and other locations before heading north to waters off Cape Verde, west of Africa, where it was briefly held this week after news of cases emerged.

The Hondius left for Spain on Wednesday after the WHO and European Union asked the country to manage the evacuation of passengers onboard after the hantavirus, which typically begins with flu-like symptoms, was detected.

Usually the virus is spread by rodents but can in rare cases be transmitted person-to-person.

The WHO said on Friday that eight people had fallen ill, including three who died - a Dutch couple and a German national. Six of these people are confirmed to have contracted the virus, with another two suspected cases.

The ship was expected to anchor near the island between 3am and 5am (GMT). 

Local authorities have said the evacuation must take place between Sunday midday and about the same time on Monday (local time) before conditions at sea were expected to become stormier for the rest of the month.

Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands will send planes to evacuate their citizens aboard the Tenerife-bound cruise ship, Spain's interior minister said in Madrid on Saturday.

The EU is sending two further planes for the remaining European citizens, Fernando Grande-Marlaska added. The United States and United Kingdom have confirmed planes and contingency plans were being arranged for non-EU citizens whose countries were unable to send air transport, he said.

British passengers and staff on the cruise ship will be taken to a hospital in northwest England for an initial isolation period once they are repatriated, UK health authorities said on Saturday.

Americans will be sent to Nebraska for quarantine and testing, travel blogger Jake Rosmarin, who is on board the ship, posted on social media.

All passengers as well as 17 crew members will be evacuated but 30 crew will stay on board and travel on to the Netherlands, Spain's Health Minister Monica Garcia said. Luggage and the body of a deceased passenger on the ship will remain on board and the ship will be fully disinfected on arrival, she added.

Spanish citizens will disembark first, with the order of evacuation of the remaining groups of citizens to be determined by health authorities. Citizens will not be able to disembark until their evacuation plane is ready to depart, Grande-Marlaska said.