Spain readies for evacuations as a hantavirus-hit cruise ship heads for the Canary Islands
- Spanish authorities are preparing to receive the hantavirus-stricken MV Hondius in Tenerife this weekend, where Virginia Barcones, Spain's head of emergency services, said passengers will arrive at a "completely isolated, cordoned-off area."
- At least three deaths have been linked to the hantavirus outbreak aboard the vessel. Usually spread by inhaling contaminated rodent droppings, symptoms typically appear between one and eight weeks after exposure.
- The United States agreed to send a plane to repatriate 17 citizens, while the British government will charter a separate flight to evacuate nearly two dozen British citizens from the Dutch-flagged vessel.
- Health authorities across four continents are scrambling to trace passengers who disembarked before the outbreak was detected. On April 24, more than two dozen people from at least 12 countries left without contact tracing.
- The World Health Organization considers public risk from the outbreak low, noting hantavirus isn't easily transmitted between people. Netherlands-based Oceanwide Expeditions reported Thursday that none of the remaining passengers or crew currently show symptoms.
295 Articles
295 Articles
Radio France Internationale
WHO chief due in Canaries to coordinate hantavirus ship evacuation
The World Health Organization's chief is due in the Spanish island of Tenerife on Saturday to help coordinate the evacuation of passengers hit by the hantavirus, Spanish ministry sources said.
The vessel is expected between Sunday and Monday off Tenerife in order to evacuate its approximately 150 passengers and crew.
Tenerife braces for race-against-time operation to evacuate 140 from MV Hondius
Spain faces a complex international operation in Tenerife on Sunday to evacuate the passengers and crew of the cruise ship MV Hondius, struck by a hantavirus outbreak that has left three dead and five laboratory-confirmed cases among the eight identified by the World Health Organization. The Dutch-flagged vessel, carrying more than 140 people and one body still on board, will anchor off the port of Granadilla between 3:00 and 5:00 a.m. local time
The protocol for the evacuation of the passengers of the ship states that this will be done by nationality and avoiding any contact with the local population Read Source link : https://www.elmundo.es/espana/2026/05/08/69fe36e221efa0752c8b45b1.html Author : Paloma H. Matellano Published date : 2026-05-09 05:33:00 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
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