A cruise ship battling a deadly hantavirus outbreak has arrived in Spain’s Canary Islands, where health officials are preparing to evacuate nearly 150 passengers and crew after weeks at sea.
The Dutch-flagged vessel, MV Hondius, reached the port of Granadilla in Tenerife on Sunday under the escort of Spanish Civil Guard authorities.
The outbreak has already claimed the lives of three passengers — a Dutch couple and a German woman — while several others were infected with the rare virus.
Health officials confirmed that the strain detected on board is the Andes virus, the only known type of hantavirus capable of spreading from person to person, raising concerns among international health agencies.
World Health Organization official Maria Van Kerkhove said everyone aboard the ship is being treated as a high-risk contact, although authorities insist the risk to the wider public remains low.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who arrived in Spain ahead of the evacuation, reassured residents that the situation is under control and stressed that the outbreak is not comparable to COVID-19.
Spanish authorities have refused to allow the ship to dock directly at the port. Instead, passengers are expected to be evacuated offshore in carefully monitored operations between Sunday and Monday before being flown home in nationality-based groups.
Security measures around the port have been tightened, with police securing sections of the area and medical tents set up for screening operations.
The ship had departed Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1 for a transatlantic voyage to Cape Verde. Some infected passengers had earlier been evacuated during stops along the route.
Health agencies across several countries are now tracing passengers and individuals who may have had contact with infected travellers.
Authorities in Spain, the Netherlands, Singapore, and the United Kingdom are monitoring possible exposure cases, while some individuals linked to the voyage remain in isolation or quarantine pending further tests.
