The Tamesis
Three patients suspected of being infected with hantavirus have been evacuated from the MV Hondius cruise ship and are on their way to the Netherlands for treatment, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday. The three were German, Dutch and British nationals, including a British crew member, according to the World Health Organization.
A rare viral outbreak has killed three people on a cruise ship.
In the latest test for the roughly 150 passengers, the Spanish government on Wednesday reiterated an initial announcement the day before that the ship would dock in the Canary Islands, even though local government leaders rejected the plan earlier in the day.
The plan announced by the Spanish government and the World Health Organization on Tuesday is for the ship to travel to the Canary Islands for a “comprehensive investigation” and “comprehensive inspection” after the evacuation of the three patients. But the archipelago’s local government leader, Fernando Clavijo, rejected the idea on Wednesday morning, saying he had requested a meeting with Spanish Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
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Clavijo, a member of Spain’s conservative political opposition, wrote in a social media post: “The Canary Islands always acts responsibly, but it cannot accept decisions taken behind the backs of Canary Islands institutions and without sufficient information being provided to the population.”
However, at a later press conference, Spanish Health Minister Mónica García Gomez reinforced the plan, saying the ship would dock in Granadilla on the Canary island of Tenerife “within three days.”
“A joint health assessment and evacuation system will be put in place to repatriate all passengers unless their health does not permit it,” she told reporters.
Regarding Clavijo’s earlier comments about the plan, Gomez said she has been “in contact” with Clavijo and that he will be involved in all meetings.
A flight planned to evacuate a ship’s doctor who developed symptoms to the Canary Islands was canceled early Wednesday, a source close to the regional president told AFP.
The Spanish Ministry of Health later announced that the patient would instead receive treatment in the Netherlands.
South African authorities confirmed on Wednesday that they had identified the alleged Hantavirus Andean Strain Two people who had been on a cruise before. The Andes strain is primarily found in Argentina and Chile and, unlike other strains, can spread from person to person.
Swiss authorities announced on Wednesday that a man who had been on the cruise ship and returned home at the end of April had also tested positive for the Andes strain, adding that “there is currently no risk to the Swiss public”.
Meanwhile, France’s health ministry told the country’s BFM television network that a “contact case” in France had been confirmed. The man is believed to have been on the same flight as one of two patients evacuated to Johannesburg for treatment in late April.
There is currently a British national in intensive care in South Africa after the cruise, but French authorities may be referring to another patient who was evacuated to Johannesburg, a 69-year-old Dutch woman who the World Health Organization said disembarked on April 24 with “gastrointestinal symptoms” and died two days later after her “condition worsened on the flight to Johannesburg.”
This brings the total number of suspected or confirmed cases to nine, with three deaths and five confirmed cases being treated, as well as the French man, but there are few details about him.
The ship’s operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, said two infectious disease experts will travel to the cruise ship from the Netherlands on Wednesday “and will remain on board following the expected departure from Cape Verde”.
The Dutch-flagged luxury cruise ship MV Hontius left Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1. The cruise ship has been anchored off Cape Verde, an island in the Atlantic Ocean off Africa’s west coast, since Sunday.
Ann Lindstrand, the World Health Organization representative in Cape Verde, told CBS News’ Ramy Inocencio on Tuesday that hantavirus does not pose a risk of a pandemic-level threat, given the low likelihood of human-to-human transmission.
She said Spanish and Dutch authorities were in “intense discussions” about the next steps for passengers on board. They were told to stay in their cabins as much as possible.
“If quarantine is required, Spanish or Dutch health authorities will make a timely decision in close cooperation with WHO recommendations,” Lindstrand said.
She added that quarantine could last up to two months if needed because the incubation period for hantavirus is one to eight weeks, noting that “eight weeks is too long.”
Lindstrand said she was in contact with a volunteer doctor on the ship, who told her the passengers were “coping extremely well” despite being anxious to know where their next port of call would be.
“We’ve heard from quite a few people on ships,” Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, said on Tuesday. “We just want to let you know that we are working with ship operators. We are working with your countries. We hear you. We know you are scared.”
