The World Health Organization says 11 cases have been confirmed, including three deaths on the cruise ship
CANARY ISLANDS, Spain – A Spanish passenger was evacuated from the cruise ship at the center of the incident. Hantavirus Spain’s health ministry announced on Tuesday that it had tested positive for the virus, and the World Health Organization said there were now 11 confirmed cases, including three deaths on the cruise ship.
The newly confirmed hantavirus case is being quarantined at a Madrid military hospital where 13 other Spanish citizens who were evacuated on Sunday are staying and have all tested negative for the virus.
along with evacuation With all passengers and many crew members finished, the MV Hondius has now sailed back to the Netherlands where it will be cleaned and disinfected.
The director-general of the World Health Organization in Madrid said all 11 confirmed cases were among passengers or crew of the MV Hondius cruise ship, and three of them had died. Nine of the 11 cases have been confirmed to be Andes virus.
“Thanks to the efforts of multiple governments and partners, these numbers have changed little over the past week,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
He added: “There is currently no indication that we are seeing a larger outbreak, but the situation may of course change and given the long incubation period of the virus we may see more cases in the coming weeks.”
Meanwhile, 12 staff at a Dutch hospital treating a hantavirus patient were told to quarantine after improperly handling body fluids.
A French woman evacuated from the stricken ship remains in intensive care at a Paris hospital and is in stable condition. The French government held two new hantavirus emergency meetings on Tuesday, the French prime minister said.
Health authorities say this is first hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship. Although there is no cure or vaccine for hantavirus, the World Health Organization says early detection and treatment can improve survival rates.
Evacuation of MV Hondius completed
A total of 87 passengers and 35 crew members were escorted off the aircraft. Boat A carefully planned operation of people wearing full-body protective gear and respiratory masks ended on Monday night, arriving on the shores of Tenerife. The remaining crew members then took supplies and headed to the Dutch port city of Rotterdam, the ship’s operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, said.
The two planes arrived in the southern Dutch city of Eindhoven overnight. The first vessel carried 19 crew members and three medical personnel. Dutch nationals were taken home for quarantine, and others, including 17 crew members from the Philippines, were sent to quarantine facilities set up by Dutch health authorities.
A second plane chartered by Australian authorities later landed in Eindhoven, carrying six Hondius passengers, including four Australians, one New Zealander and a British national living in Australia, according to the Dutch Foreign Ministry. Passengers will continue to be quarantined near the airport and continue their journey to Australia “as soon as possible”, the statement said. Australian authorities did not immediately respond to a request for more details.
Hantaviruses are usually spread through rodent feces and are not easily transmitted from person to person. but andes virus Outbreaks identified on cruise ships may in rare cases be able to spread from person to person. Symptoms (which may include fever, chills, and muscle aches) usually appear one to eight weeks after exposure.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recommended that returning travelers should quarantine at home or other facilities for 42 days. He added that the WHO cannot enforce its guidance and that different countries may monitor asymptomatic passengers differently.
Dutch hospital staff quarantined
Twelve employees at a Dutch hospital where a passenger from the Hondius must be quarantined for six weeks due to improper handling of body fluids, Radboud University Medical Center said in a statement Monday night.
The hospital said the “risk of infection is low” but asked the dozen employees to quarantine as a “precautionary measure.”
Hospitals in the eastern city of Nijmegen last week admitted a passenger from an evacuation flight that landed in the Netherlands who tested positive for hantavirus.
The hospital said patients’ blood and urine should be handled “following stricter procedures.”
Associated Press writers Suman Neshadem in Madrid, Molly Quayle in The Hague, Netherlands, Jamie Kitten in Geneva and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. all rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
