The effort to clear the MV Hondius cruise ship hit a major snag Sunday afternoon when a French citizen began showing symptoms of the deadly hantavirus mid-flight. French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu confirmed the development on social media, noting that five passengers were immediately placed into strict isolation upon landing.
While Lecornu did not specify the exact symptoms or confirm a positive test result, he announced a decree to enforce isolation for all close contacts to protect the public.
This scare unfolded as the ship, carrying roughly 150 people from 15 different nations, docked in Spain’s Canary Islands. The evacuation has been a high-stakes, choreographed operation involving hazmat suits, disinfectants, and plastic-wrapped airplane cabins.
Spanish nationals were the first to leave the vessel Sunday morning, transported directly to a military hospital in Madrid for quarantine.
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Health officials have been on high alert because this specific outbreak involves a rare strain of hantavirus capable of person-to-person transmission. So far, the virus has claimed three lives: a Dutch couple and a German woman. Total confirmed or suspected cases linked to the ship have reached at least nine.
The MV Hondius had been at sea since April 1, traveling through the South Atlantic before Spain agreed to let the vessel dock at Granadilla. The disembarkation process, managed by Oceanwide Expeditions, used small launch boats to move groups of five to ten people at a time to avoid crowding. Authorities emphasized that passengers had no contact with the local population in Tenerife during the transfer to the airport.
American passengers are scheduled to be the final group removed from the ship. A specialized medical flight sent by the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services is expected to transport them to Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.
From there, they will be moved to a biocontainment unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Michael Wadman, the center’s medical director, stated that each American will be housed in a private room for an unspecified quarantine period.
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While the situation remains tense, World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is on-site in Tenerife, urged the public not to panic.
He noted that the risk to the general population remains low and that this is not a repeat of the COVID-19 pandemic. Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb also suggested that many passengers are likely reaching the end of the virus’s incubation window this week.
The origin of the outbreak is still being traced. Investigators believe a Dutch couple may have contracted the virus during a bird-watching trip in South America before boarding. The man died on the ship on April 11, but the virus wasn’t identified until his wife died in South Africa two weeks later.
The ship itself will eventually head to Rotterdam with a skeleton crew and the body of one deceased passenger. Once it reaches the Netherlands, the entire vessel will undergo a professional disinfection.
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