‘All Measures Taken To Contain Hantavirus Cases After Cruise Evacuation — Spain

Spain on Monday said it had taken all measures to prevent the spread of Hantavirus among evacuees from a cruise ship hit by the virus, after French and United States nationals tested positive.

A complex repatriation operation from the Canary Islands on Sunday saw 94 passengers and crew of 19 different nationalities flown out from the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius, which had been at the centre of an international health alert following the deaths of three passengers.

Medical teams escorted the travellers to an airport on Tenerife under strict supervision and after thorough sanitary checks, Spanish authorities said.

However, French and US authorities have since confirmed that one evacuee each tested positive for the virus after leaving the ship.

“From the start, all the measures adopted have aimed at cutting the possible chains of transmission… all measures for prevention and control of transmission have been applied,” Spain’s health ministry said in a statement.

It added that the French patient “started to feel unwell during the flight and not while she was on the ship.”

Regarding the US case, the ministry noted that the individual “did not show symptoms when they were in Cape Verde,” where the vessel had stopped before arriving in Spain.

“However, the US authorities have decided to treat the case as positive. For that reason, they requested a separate evacuation, which was carried out in a separate boat,” the statement added.

Two additional repatriation flights to Australia and the Netherlands were scheduled for Monday to complete the evacuation of most of the nearly 150 passengers and crew onboard.

After refuelling, the ship is expected to depart for the Netherlands later in the day with a reduced, skeleton crew.

“There are still some citizens from the Netherlands and Australia, and hopefully we can even finish before the scheduled time,” Spanish minister Angel Victor Torres told public radio RNE.

Health authorities noted that there are no vaccines or specific treatments for hantavirus, a rare disease typically spread by rodents, but emphasised that the risk to global public health remains low, dismissing comparisons to the COVID-19 pandemic.