The cruise ship MV Hondius, which was affected by a hantavirus outbreak, has docked in the port of Granadía, located on the island of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands, El Pais reported.
Around 350 law enforcement officers will take part in the evacuation operation. Medical personnel will check passengers to make sure they are asymptomatic. Groups of passengers are expected to be transported by boat to the coast and then to the airport for repatriation. The Spanish Ministry of Defense will transport the 14 Spanish citizens on board from the Canary Islands to a hospital in Madrid, where they will be quarantined. They are expected to be the first to leave the ship.
Spanish authorities have developed a special protocol for evacuating people from the ship. They also assured that the arrival of the MV Hondius in the Canary Islands does not pose a risk to the local population. After the evacuation process is completed, the ship with approximately 30 crew members is expected to sail to the Netherlands, where it will be disinfected.
Eight people on board have tested positive for hantavirus. Three passengers have died and one is in critical condition in a hospital in Johannesburg. To prevent further spread of the infection, passengers have been ordered to stay in their cabins. However, the incubation period of hantavirus can be several weeks, making it difficult to quickly identify new cases.
In April, the ship sailed from Ushuaia, Argentina, to its final destination, the Canary Islands. There are approximately 150 people on board, mostly citizens of the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands. The ship has already stopped at several islands in the Atlantic Ocean.
Hantaviruses are a family of viruses that mainly infect small mammals, but can also be transmitted to humans. In severe cases, the lungs of those infected are damaged and heart failure and hemorrhagic fever develop.