Kiwi aboard cruise ship with deadly hantavirus outbreak hasn't requested consular help

A New Zealander onboard a cruise ship experiencing a hantavirus outbreak has not requested consular assistance to date, says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

In a statement a MFAT spokesperson said consular officials were working with New Zealand embassies in the Hague and Madrid on the situation onboard MV Hondius.

They said no further information would be shared for privacy reasons.

There are now eight cases of hantavirus linked to the luxury Dutch cruise ship, with people being treated in hospital in Europe and South Africa and passengers who left the trip early to return home to the UK self isolating.

All passengers remaining aboard the ship were asymptomatic, Spain's Health Minister, Monica Garcia, said.

Non-Spanish citizens would be repatriated to their countries after the ship arrived in Tenerife in the Canary Islands, she said.

The Canary Islands were the closest location "with the necessary capabilities", and Spain's health ministry said it had "a moral and legal obligation to assist these people".

Spanish citizens, of which there were 14, would be taken to a hospital in Madrid to quarantine, but non-Spanish passengers would not be required to quarantine in Spain, Garcia said.

"In principle, repatriated people under this civil protection scheme will be repatriated to their home countries, providing there are no medical reasons preventing this. The relevant guidelines and protocols will be followed in each country," she said.

No New Zealand-specific quarantine measures were mentioned in the MFAT statement.

Instead the ministry said: "Details about the quarantine and health and safety measures for passengers on board can be found on Oceanwide Expeditions' website."

Dutch cruise company Oceanwide Expeditions said MV Hondius had now departed from Cape Verde, bound for the Canary Islands.

The journey was expected to take three to four days, the company said in a statement.

"Three additional medical professionals have embarked MV Hondius to provide optimal medical care during the crossing," it said.

Three symptomatic people, including the ship's doctor, had earlier been medically evacuated to Amsterdam.

Two patients had landed but one other was still in transit after a problem with their aircraft.

Oceanwide Expeditions said that patient remained in a stable condition.

The exact point of arrival in the Canary Islands, quarantine and screening procedures for all guests, and a precise timeline was still being worked out with local and international authorities, including the World Health Organisation (WHO) and relevant embassies, the company said.

In a statement, the WHO said the risk to the global population from this event was currently low and would continue to monitor the epidemiological situation and update the risk assessment as needed.

The virus was usually acquired through contact with the urine, faeces, or saliva of infected rodents, it said.

While uncommon, the WHO said limited human to human transmission had been reported in previous outbreaks of Andes virus, a specific species of hantavirus.

"The extent of passenger contact with local wildlife during the voyage, or prior to boarding in Ushuaia remains undetermined," it said.

The cruise ship left Ushuaia, Argentina on 1 April and followed an itinerary across the South Atlantic, with multiple stops in remote and ecologically diverse regions, including mainland Antarctica, South Georgia, Nightingale Island, Tristan da Cunha, Saint Helena, and Ascension Island.

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