The cruise ship MV Hondius, affected by the hantavirus, has arrived at the port of Rotterdam for disinfection after a voyage that garnered international health authorities’ attention. The crew members will undergo immediate quarantine, with those unable to return home quarantining in the Netherlands as per the Dutch health ministry’s directive. Oceanwide Expeditions, the Dutch vessel’s operator, disclosed that there are 27 individuals on board, comprising 25 crew members and two medical staff, hailing from various nationalities. Most of them will undergo a six-week quarantine in Rotterdam, as reported by Xinhua news agency.
“The remaining crew and medical staff on board MV Hondius will disembark in a staggered approach upon arrival in Rotterdam, in close coordination with the cleaning process,” stated Oceanwide Expeditions in a released statement. Meanwhile, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has confirmed a hantavirus case in a cruise passenger currently isolating in British Columbia after laboratory testing. PHAC mentioned that samples from British Columbia were sent to the agency’s National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) in Winnipeg for confirmatory testing.
PHAC reported that one individual’s sample tested positive for hantavirus on Saturday, while a second individual, a traveling companion of the confirmed case, tested negative. No additional cases have been identified, with all high-risk contacts isolating and under close monitoring by local health authorities, ensuring the general population’s risk in Canada remains low. The outbreak, which occurred on the polar expedition cruise ship MV Hondius, has resulted in three deaths to date, with the hantavirus’ incubation period typically ranging from one to eight weeks.
Earlier, health authorities in British Columbia province announced that a Canadian cruise passenger in isolation has tested presumptively positive for hantavirus.
