Catherine ArmstrongAnd
Toby Mann
A Dutch cruise ship with a hantavirus outbreak on board is to sail to the Canary Islands, the Spanish Health Ministry announced.
Two members of the crew, including the ship’s British doctor, are in need of urgent medical treatment and were due to be evacuated on a hospital plane to the Canary Islands on Tuesday. A third person linked to a deceased German national also had to be evacuated.
Authorities were determining which passengers needed to be urgently evacuated from Cape Verde, where the ship was docked, the health ministry added.
Three passengers on board the MV Hondius died after it left Argentina for its Atlantic Ocean crossing about a month ago.
Seven cases of hantavirus – two confirmed and five suspected – have so far been identified in people who were on board the ship, according to the latest update from the World Health Organization (WHO).
The two confirmed cases are a Dutch woman, who is among those who died, and a 69-year-old British national who was evacuated to South Africa for medical treatment.
The woman’s husband also died, but he is not a confirmed case, nor is the German national who died on May 2.
South Africa’s health ministry said the two confirmed cases were linked to the Andean strain of hantavirus, according to a Reuters report. This strain is known to cause human-to-human transmission between people in close contact.
Some 149 people from 23 countries remained on board under “strict precautionary measures”, the ship’s operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, said.
In addition to the British crew member, there are 22 other British nationals on board.
Spain’s Health Ministry said the remaining passengers would head to the Canary Islands, where they were expected to arrive in three to four days, adding that the exact port had not yet been decided.
Cruise line Oceanwide Expeditions said its plan was to sail to “Gran Canaria or Tenerife.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) explained that Cape Verde “cannot carry out this operation”.
“The Canary Islands are the closest place with the necessary capacity. Spain has a moral and legal obligation to help these people, among whom are several Spanish citizens,” the statement added.
After arriving in the Canary Islands, the crew and passengers will be examined, given the necessary care and will then be able to begin their return journey, the Spanish Ministry of Health said in a statement.
All interactions with those on board the MV Hondius would take place in “special spaces and transportation specifically set up for this situation,” the ministry said.
This is to help “avoid any contact with the local population and ensure the safety of healthcare personnel”, adds the text.
Hantavirus is usually spread by rodentsbut the WHO said it could have spread among “very close contacts” on the ship. He stressed that the risk to the public was low.
