Evacuation Begins for Passengers of Cruise Ship Facing Hantavirus Outbreak

The initial group of passengers has started to disembark from a Dutch-flagged cruise ship, the MV Hondius, which recently encountered a hantavirus outbreak upon arriving in Spain’s Canary Islands early Sunday morning.

Health officials reported that no remaining passengers aboard the ship are exhibiting symptoms linked to the virus. So far, there have been at least nine confirmed or suspected cases of hantavirus from the outbreak, which includes three fatalities: a Dutch couple and a German woman.

The Hondius is currently hosting nearly 150 individuals from over 15 different countries, including 17 Americans. The ship had set out earlier in the week from Cape Verde, heading to the port of Granadilla on Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands, after Spanish authorities agreed to allow its docking.

According to Oceanwide Expeditions, the operator of the ship, the evacuation process began Sunday, utilizing launch boats that can accommodate five to ten people. Spanish passengers will disembark first, followed by a Netherlands-bound flight for Germans, Belgians, Greeks, and part of the crew. Subsequent flights are scheduled to Canada, Turkey, France, Great Britain, Ireland, and the U.S. The last flight to Australia, which is organized separately, will occur on Monday and will include some passengers from New Zealand and Asia.

As officials noted, health screenings aren’t anticipated upon arrival on land. The focus appears to be on moving passengers swiftly from bus to plane and out of Tenerife—essentially, out of Spain.

After everyone has left the ship, a small crew will remain to gather supplies for the next leg of the journey to Rotterdam, Netherlands, which is expected to take about five days, as per Oceanwide Expeditions.

The CDC has dispatched a team of epidemiologists and medical experts to assess exposure risk for the American passengers and provide guidance on necessary monitoring measures.

Once they leave the Hondius, the American passengers will be transported back to the U.S. via a plane arranged by the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services. They will land at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska, and will subsequently be taken to a specialized biocontainment unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Michael Wadman, the medical director of the National Quarantine Unit at the university, mentioned that each American would be provided with their own room during quarantine, though the duration remains unspecified.

The evacuation operation is being organized in conjunction with the World Health Organization (WHO) and various other health entities. WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus visited Tenerife prior to the ship’s arrival.

Hantaviruses are transmitted from rodents to humans, primarily through contact with urine, droppings, or saliva, as stated by the CDC. Symptoms may take up to eight weeks to manifest after exposure.

WHO indicates that the Andes strain of the virus, primarily found in Latin America, is known for potential human-to-human transmission. Dr. Tedros assessed the public risk as “low,” a sentiment echoed by acting CDC director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who noted that symptomatic individuals are needed for transmission and thus the public risk remains very low.

The origin of the outbreak is still under investigation. However, the deceased Dutch couple had reportedly spent weeks in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay prior to boarding the ship. That region is known for the presence of rodents that carry the Andes virus, which Tedros highlighted.

The man experienced symptoms on April 6 and passed away on the ship on April 11, but samples weren’t collected as his symptoms resembled other respiratory issues, and hantavirus wasn’t considered at that point. His wife went ashore when the ship docked at St. Helena and later exhibited severe symptoms on a flight to Johannesburg, where she died the next day. Testing confirmed hantavirus as the cause in her case.

A German woman, who also showed symptoms on April 28, died aboard the ship on May 2, according to WHO. Additionally, three other patients were flown to the Netherlands for emergency medical treatment this week, while a Swiss man who showed symptoms after disembarking is now being treated in Zurich. A British man was medically evacuated to South Africa, while another British national who left the ship is hospitalized on Tristan da Cunha, a British territory.

Thirty-two passengers from various countries had previously disembarked the Hondius in St. Helena, including the Dutch woman who unfortunately passed away shortly thereafter. American passengers who returned to the U.S. before the outbreak’s identification are being monitored by state health agencies in California, Georgia, Texas, Virginia, and Arizona.

The Hondius began its voyage on April 1 from Ushuaia, Argentina, visiting several islands in the southern Atlantic before making its way to St. Helena between April 21 and April 24. The ship then anchored off Cape Verde for several days prior to heading toward the Canary Islands.