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A cruise ship at the center of a deadly hantavirus outbreak is starting the process of evacuating passengers in Spain’s Canary Islands, almost a month after the contagious disease broke out.
Hantavirus-Hit Cruise Ship Begins Evacuation in Canary Islands(Bloomberg) -- A cruise ship at the center of a deadly hantavirus outbreak is starting the process of evacuating passengers in Spain’s Canary Islands, almost a month after the contagious disease broke out.
The vessel, the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius, anchored near Tenerife on Sunday and people have started to disembark, beginning with Spanish citizens, Spain’s Health Ministry said.
“The docking took place at 6:30 a.m. and has been a success in spite of all the adversities,” Health Minister Mónica García said in a statement. Health officials have found that “all passengers are asymptomatic,” she added.
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Hantavirus is typically spread through contact with infected rodent droppings or by inhaling contaminated dust. The Andes strain, however, can occasionally spread between people.
Symptoms of hantavirus can take weeks to appear and, in severe cases, can rapidly progress to respiratory failure. The provided content does not detail specific early symptoms.
In severe cases, hantavirus can have fatality rates as high as 50% in the Americas. The Andes strain also carries a mortality rate of up to 50 percent when transmitted to humans.
Twelve countries were officially or indirectly linked to the hantavirus outbreak response. These include Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkiye, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
While hantavirus is usually spread through rodents, the Andes strain can, in rare cases, spread between people. This transmission was believed to have occurred on the MV Hondius.
Passengers from the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium will follow and be flown to their countries, with both a Spanish and a Dutch plane ready. The Irish government is sending a plane to Spain on Sunday to repatriate two Irish citizens, who will then be sent to a medical facility for monitoring and isolation, a situation that could take several weeks, broadcaster RTE said.
The ship, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions BV, arrived from Cape Verde. The health crisis triggered a cross-border response with global authorities coordinating evacuations, screening and repatriation across several countries.
Hantavirus is a rare infection typically spread through contact with infected rodent droppings or inhaling contaminated dust. Symptoms can take weeks to appear, and in severe cases the illness can progress rapidly to respiratory failure, with fatality rates reaching as high as 50% in the Americas.
The World Health Organization has identified eight medical cases linked to the cruise — five suspected and three laboratory-confirmed — including three deaths. Passengers, crew and expedition staff from 23 countries remain on the Hondius.
The impact of the outbreak has spread beyond the ship. In Italy, some passengers are isolating, after four people were found to have been travelling with one of the victims, the Corriere della Sera newspaper reported.
The outbreak started when the first patient, a Dutch man, and his wife traveled in South America before boarding the ship in Argentina on April 1. Both have since died.
--With assistance from Angela Cullen.
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