Spain Prepares for Evacuations as Hantavirus-Hit Cruise Ship Heads to Canary Islands
Spanish authorities ready to receive over 140 passengers and crew members from the hantavirus-stricken MV Hondius cruise ship.
Spanish authorities are preparing to receive more than 140 passengers and crew members on board a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship headed for the Canary Islands.
Health officials have stated that careful evacuations will be conducted, with the vessel expected to reach Tenerife, off the coast of West Africa, early Sunday.
The MV Hondius is a Dutch-flagged vessel, and Dutch officials are in close contact with the ship's owner and authorities of countries whose citizens are on board.
The United States has agreed to send a plane to repatriate its 17 citizens from the cruise ship.
The British government will also charter a plane to evacuate nearly two dozen British nationals onboard.
At least three passengers have died, and several others are sick.
The World Health Organization (WHO) considers the risk to the wider public from the outbreak as low.
WHO officials stated that a flight attendant who briefly boarded by an infected cruise passenger had tested negative for the virus, alleviating concerns about its potential transmissibility.
Hantavirus is usually spread by the inhalation of contaminated rodent droppings and isn't easily transmitted between people.
However, in rare cases, the Andes virus implicated in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people.
Symptoms typically appear one to eight weeks after exposure.
Cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions stated that there were no passengers with symptoms of a possible infection on board the ship.
Health authorities across four continents are tracking down and monitoring passengers who disembarked the ship before the outbreak was detected.
Over two dozen people from at least 12 different countries left the ship without contact tracing nearly two weeks after the first passenger died on board.
A KLM flight attendant, who tested negative for the virus, worked on a flight from Johannesburg to Amsterdam on April 25 and later fell ill.
She was taken to an isolation ward at an Amsterdam hospital.
UK health authorities announced that a third British national is suspected to have hantavirus, with no further information available about their condition.
Two other Britons who were on the ship have been confirmed to have the virus, one hospitalized in the Netherlands and the other in South Africa.
Spanish officials sought to reassure those concerned about the evacuation of the MV Hondius in the Canary Islands.
They stated that passengers will be evacuated directly to the airport for their country of origin and will travel in isolated and guarded vehicles.
The parts of the airport they pass through will also be cordoned off.
Despite WHO and Spanish health experts stressing the low risk of the outbreak turning into something much bigger, some Spaniards drew parallels to the early months of 2020.
Health officials have stated that careful evacuations will be conducted, with the vessel expected to reach Tenerife, off the coast of West Africa, early Sunday.
The MV Hondius is a Dutch-flagged vessel, and Dutch officials are in close contact with the ship's owner and authorities of countries whose citizens are on board.
The United States has agreed to send a plane to repatriate its 17 citizens from the cruise ship.
The British government will also charter a plane to evacuate nearly two dozen British nationals onboard.
At least three passengers have died, and several others are sick.
The World Health Organization (WHO) considers the risk to the wider public from the outbreak as low.
WHO officials stated that a flight attendant who briefly boarded by an infected cruise passenger had tested negative for the virus, alleviating concerns about its potential transmissibility.
Hantavirus is usually spread by the inhalation of contaminated rodent droppings and isn't easily transmitted between people.
However, in rare cases, the Andes virus implicated in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people.
Symptoms typically appear one to eight weeks after exposure.
Cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions stated that there were no passengers with symptoms of a possible infection on board the ship.
Health authorities across four continents are tracking down and monitoring passengers who disembarked the ship before the outbreak was detected.
Over two dozen people from at least 12 different countries left the ship without contact tracing nearly two weeks after the first passenger died on board.
A KLM flight attendant, who tested negative for the virus, worked on a flight from Johannesburg to Amsterdam on April 25 and later fell ill.
She was taken to an isolation ward at an Amsterdam hospital.
UK health authorities announced that a third British national is suspected to have hantavirus, with no further information available about their condition.
Two other Britons who were on the ship have been confirmed to have the virus, one hospitalized in the Netherlands and the other in South Africa.
Spanish officials sought to reassure those concerned about the evacuation of the MV Hondius in the Canary Islands.
They stated that passengers will be evacuated directly to the airport for their country of origin and will travel in isolated and guarded vehicles.
The parts of the airport they pass through will also be cordoned off.
Despite WHO and Spanish health experts stressing the low risk of the outbreak turning into something much bigger, some Spaniards drew parallels to the early months of 2020.
