A Dutch-flagged cruise ship linked to a deadly hantavirus outbreak arrived in Spain’s Canary Islands early Sunday, where health authorities are preparing to evacuate passengers and most crew members before arranging their return to their home countries.
The MV Hondius, carrying close to 150 people from over 15 nations, including 17 Americans, sailed from Cape Verde earlier this week toward the port of Granadilla on Tenerife after Spanish authorities agreed to receive the vessel.
Reuters footage showed the ship approaching Granadilla port while being escorted by a Spanish Civil Guard vessel, according to Agence France-Presse journalists.
The World Health Organization said none of the individuals still onboard had shown symptoms so far. Authorities have identified at least nine confirmed or suspected hantavirus cases connected to the outbreak, including the deaths of a Dutch couple and a German woman.
Oceanwide Expeditions, the operator of the vessel, said all passengers and some of the roughly 60 crew members would begin leaving the ship Sunday using launch boats capable of transporting five to 10 people at a time. The operation is being overseen by WHO alongside several health agencies. WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus arrived in Tenerife before the ship docked.
After the evacuation process is completed, a reduced crew will remain onboard to restock supplies before sailing the ship to Rotterdam in the Netherlands, a journey expected to last about five days, according to Oceanwide Expeditions.
U.S. authorities said the American passengers would be flown back to the United States aboard a medical aircraft dispatched by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services.
The CDC announced it was deploying epidemiologists and medical personnel to the Canary Islands to “conduct an exposure risk assessment for each American passenger and provide recommendations for the level of monitoring required.”
Officials said the repatriation flight carrying the Americans would arrive at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska, before the passengers are transferred to a specialized biocontainment facility at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Michael Wadman, medical director of the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, said each American passenger would remain isolated in separate rooms during quarantine for an unspecified period.
According to the CDC, hantaviruses are transmitted to humans through contact with rodent urine, droppings, or saliva. Symptoms can take as long as eight weeks to appear after exposure.
WHO noted that the Andes strain found in Latin America is the only hantavirus strain known to spread between humans. Ghebreyesus described the overall public health threat as “low,” a view also supported by acting CDC director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya.
“Hantavirus is not spread by people without symptoms, transmission requires close contact, and the risk to the American public is very low,” Bhattacharya said in a statement Wednesday.
Investigators are still trying to determine the source of the outbreak. WHO said the Dutch couple who died — a 70-year-old man and his 69-year-old wife — had reportedly spent several weeks bird-watching in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay before boarding the vessel, traveling through regions inhabited by rodents known to carry the Andes virus.
WHO said the man began experiencing symptoms on April 6 and died aboard the ship on April 11. No tests were initially conducted because his illness resembled other respiratory infections and hantavirus was not suspected.
His wife later left the vessel when it stopped at the British territory of St. Helena. She reportedly became seriously ill during a flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, on April 25 and died the next day. Tests later confirmed hantavirus infection.
According to WHO, the German woman developed symptoms on April 28 and died aboard the ship on May 2.
Three additional patients were airlifted to the Netherlands this week for urgent medical treatment. A Swiss passenger who became ill after leaving the ship was receiving treatment in Zurich. A British passenger was evacuated to South Africa, while another British national who disembarked earlier remains hospitalized on Tristan da Cunha, a British overseas territory.
Oceanwide Expeditions said 32 passengers from around 12 countries had left the ship in St. Helena, including the Dutch woman who later died. U.S. passengers who had already returned home before the outbreak was identified are currently being monitored by health agencies in California, Georgia, Texas, Virginia, and Arizona.
The Hondius departed Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1 for a cruise through several South Atlantic destinations, including the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, Tristan da Cunha, Gough Island, and St. Helena between April 21 and April 24.
The ship later remained anchored for several days off Cape Verde, located off the coast of West Africa, before continuing on to the Canary Islands.
