News24 | Spain says it took ‘all measures’ to halt hantavirus as positive cases emerge among evacuees
Passengers walk inside the airport after the plane repatriating 26 Dutch national passengers of the MV Hondius cruise ship, where an outbreak of hantavirus has been detected, lands at Eindhoven Air Base International airport in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
Mouneb Taim/Anadolu via Getty Images
The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius became the centre of an international health alert after three passengers died from hantavirus. A repatriation operation flew out 94 passengers and crew of 19 nationalities from the Canary Islands. Both France and the US reported one positive hantavirus case each among their evacuees.Health officials stressed that the risk to global public health remains low and cautioned against comparisons to COVID-19.Spain on Monday said it took “all measures” to prevent hantavirus spreading from evacuees on a cruise ship hit by the virus, after French and US nationals tested positive.A complex repatriation operation from the Canary Islands on Sunday flew out 94 passengers and crew of 19 different nationalities from the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius, which is at the centre of an international alert after three passengers died.Medical teams escorted travellers to an airport on Tenerife under close supervision and following sanitary checks on the ship.French and US authorities have reported positive tests for hantavirus from one each of their evacuees.“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,” the Spanish health ministry said in a statement.It said the French patient “started to feel unwell during the flight and not while she was on the ship”.READ | SA scientists deserve praise for quick hantavirus outbreak ID and warningsThe US citizen’s tests in Cape Verde, where the MV Hondius stopped before reaching the Canary Islands, gave a result considered by the Americans as a “weak positive”, “although for us it was not conclusive”, and another that was negative, the ministry said.“The person in question did not show symptoms when they were in Cape Verde. 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.”Of the 54 people left on the ship, “28 will disembark this afternoon in the Canary Islands and 26 will remain on board en route to the Netherlands,” Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia announced on social media, updating an earlier figure of 22 evacuees.The final evacuees will all leave on a single flight to the Netherlands, she had said earlier, changing an original schedule that had involved a second plane to Australia.READ | More hantavirus cases could emerge, but outbreak limited with precautions taken, says WHOAfter refuelling and receiving fresh supplies, the ship is scheduled to depart at 7:00 pm (1800 GMT) with a skeleton crew.No vaccines or specific treatments exist for hantavirus, a known but rare illness that usually spreads among rodents.Health officials have insisted that the risk to global public health is low and dismissed comparisons to the Covid-19 pandemic.
