Hantavirus-hit cruise ship arrives in Netherlands

Rotterdam, Netherlands — cruise ship quilt Deadly hantavirus outbreak The docking at the Dutch port of Rotterdam for disinfection ended a difficult journey that had international health authorities on alert.

The MV Hondius arrived in Rotterdam with 25 crew members and two medical staff on Monday morning after all passengers disembarked elsewhere. No one on board has shown any symptoms, according to the ship’s operator, Oceanwide Expeditions.

Passengers on deck wore masks as the ship was escorted through the port by a tugboat and a Dutch police ship. Authorities said the crew will be quarantined immediately.

Three passengers on the ship died during the outbreak, including a Dutch couple who health officials believe were first exposed to the virus while visiting South America.

MV Hondius has moved from Canary Islands, remaining passengers escorted out of the country The ship boarded flights to more than 20 countries with personnel wearing full protective gear for quarantine.

The number of cases on board the ship has reached at least 11, of which 9 have been confirmed.

The Public Health Agency of Canada said one of four Canadians who were quarantined after leaving the ship on Sunday has tested positive and will share information about the case with the World Health Organization.

The Dutch Ministry of Health said last week that crew members who are unable to return home will be quarantined in the Netherlands. About two dozen passengers and crew are already in quarantine in the Netherlands after arriving on a series of flights over the past two weeks.

Eighteen Americans are currently under observation A specialized medical facility in the United States designed to treat people with dangerous infectious diseases.

The World Health Organization emphasizes that this epidemic is not a recurrence of the new coronavirus epidemic and that this type of infection is very rare.

This is the first known outbreak on a cruise ship.

However, Tedros warned that the incubation period for the virus is several weeks, meaning there could be more cases among ship passengers in the future.

Once everyone on board has disembarked, the ship will be decontaminated in accordance with Dutch public health guidelines. “Personal protective measures are being taken to ensure that cleaners do not need to quarantine after cleaning,” the health ministry said in a letter to the Dutch parliament last week.

Public health officials will inspect the ship before allowing it to sail again.

The Dutch company that owns the cruise ship said it did not expect any changes to its operations. On May 29, an Arctic cruise ship departed from Keflavik, Iceland.

France’s Pasteur Institute said on Saturday it had fully sequenced the Andes virus detected in a French passenger on the MV Hondius cruise ship. Found to match viruses known in South Americaso far there is no evidence that the new characteristics make it more transmissible or more dangerous.