Spain readies isolated evacuation for hantavirus cruise ship passengers

Spanish authorities are preparing a sealed, guarded evacuation for more than 140 passengers and crew aboard a Dutch cruise ship as it heads to Tenerife with a confirmed hantavirus outbreak that has killed at least three people, according to The Korea Times.

The outbreak has alarmed health officials across four continents after more than two dozen people disembarked the vessel on April 24 — eight days before the virus was officially confirmed — and scattered to at least 12 countries without any contact tracing.

Virginia Barcones, Spain's head of emergency services, said Thursday that all evacuees would be transported in sealed vehicles to a controlled zone inside Tenerife's airport. "They will arrive at a completely isolated, cordoned-off area," Barcones said, according to The Korea Times. She offered further reassurance Friday, saying "the people of the Canary Islands, the men and women living there, can rest assured that there will be absolutely no possibility of contact at any time."

The United States plans to send an aircraft for 17 American citizens aboard the vessel, and Britain is arranging a charter flight for approximately 24 British nationals, the newspaper reported. The MV Hondius, a Dutch-flagged ship operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, was expected to dock May 9 or 10.

Three passengers have died, including a Dutch woman who died in Johannesburg and two British nationals whose cases were confirmed in the Netherlands and South Africa respectively. A third British national is a suspected case on the remote island of Tristan da Cunha, the Times reported. No passengers or crew remaining aboard are currently symptomatic.

The first death occurred April 24, but the virus was not formally confirmed until May 2 — an eight-day gap during which more than two dozen people from at least 12 countries left the ship without notification or contact tracing. Health officials are now working across continents to locate those former passengers.

The World Health Organization sought to limit alarm over the outbreak. "The risk remains absolutely low," WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said Friday. "This is not a new COVID," he added, stressing that hantavirus does not spread easily between people. The pathogen is typically contracted by inhaling particles from contaminated rodent droppings, and symptoms can take one to eight weeks to appear after exposure.

A KLM flight attendant who may have had contact with an infected passenger tested negative for the virus, the Times reported. Health officials across Europe, Africa and the Americas continue to monitor travelers who left the ship before the outbreak was detected.