The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has designated the hantavirus outbreak on a Dutch cruise ship as a Level 3 emergency, representing the lowest tier of the agency’s response framework.
Officials have indicated that while the overall risk to the public is considered low, health agencies are actively monitoring the situation. Additionally, the CDC has also activated its emergency operations center in light of this outbreak.
Spanish authorities are preparing to assist over 140 passengers and crew onboard a cruise ship headed to the Canary Islands, which is experiencing a hantavirus infection that has garnered attention in both the U.S. and Europe.
Reports suggest that about 17 Americans are currently aboard the ship.
The agency plans to send personnel to the Canary Islands ahead of the ship’s arrival on Sunday. All American passengers will be relocated to the National Quarantine Station in Nebraska.
“Health officials in various states are keeping an eye on some passengers who returned to the U.S. following their cruise for potential hantavirus infection,” according to reports.
Three individuals have died in connection with this outbreak, which includes five passengers who had disembarked from the Dutch-flagged MV. Hondius. The cruise line, Oceanwide Expeditions, confirmed the presence of a hantavirus infection on Thursday.
The World Health Organization (WHO) also reflects a belief that the risk to the wider population from this outbreak remains low.
However, the WHO’s role does not extend to managing the situation in the U.S.
During the Trump administration, the U.S. began its withdrawal from the WHO, which previously expressed concerns over “serious failures” in the organization’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic that originated in Wuhan, China, significantly impacting global and U.S. economies.
A Dutch cruise ship is set to arrive at the Spanish island of Tenerife this Sunday. Virginia Balcones, head of emergency services in Spain, stated that passengers would be taken to an area that is “completely isolated and cordoned-off.”
On Friday, it was reported that a flight attendant who had been on the same plane as the infected passenger tested negative for the virus. Authorities are conducting tests due to worries about the virus’s potential to spread.
According to reports,
Hantaviruses are typically transmitted through inhaling contaminated rodent droppings and are not commonly spread between humans. However, the Andes virus found in the cruise ship outbreak has, in rare instances, been able to be transmitted between people. Symptoms generally appear within 1 to 8 weeks after exposure.
Health officials across four continents are continuing to monitor over 20 passengers who left the ship before the outbreak was confirmed, striving to trace others who may have had contact with them since then.
The CDC notes that early symptoms mirror those of a severe flu but can escalate into serious upper respiratory issues.
On April 24, nearly two weeks after the first death onboard, officials revealed that more than a dozen individuals from various countries had departed the ship without sufficient contact tracing. It took over a week for hantavirus to be confirmed as the cause of the outbreak.
By launching the emergency operations center, the CDC is clearly taking a proactive stance, which might mean that some of their epidemiologists and doctors are being redirected from their usual responsibilities to aid in the response effort.
