World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus provided reassurance to residents of Tenerife as the cruise ship MV Hondius approached the Canary Islands following a hantavirus outbreak. The vessel, with 147 people on board, is set to arrive between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. local time Sunday. Since the outbreak started after the ship left Cape Verde, three passengers have died and five others have been confirmed infected.
In an open letter to Canary Islands residents, Tedros addressed local concerns by emphasizing that the hantavirus situation is not comparable to COVID-19. He stated that the current public health risk from hantavirus remains low, mentioning that WHO experts and medical supplies are already on the ship. Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia confirmed that all passengers are asymptomatic, calling the operation involving 23 countries “unprecedented.”
Spanish authorities announced that passengers would disembark at the industrial port of Granadilla and then be transferred in sealed vehicles directly to airports for repatriation and quarantine in their home countries. The 14 Spanish passengers will be moved to military facilities near Madrid before being quarantined at Hospital Gomez Ulla. Meanwhile, a woman in Alicante who had contact with one of the deceased passengers tested negative for hantavirus on Saturday, as per Spanish health authorities.
WHO recommended that all individuals aboard a cruise ship affected by a hantavirus outbreak should be considered “high-risk” contacts and monitored actively for 42 days. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, highlighted the need for active monitoring and follow-up for all passengers and crew for a 42-day period. Despite this, she emphasized that the risk to the public and residents of the Canary Islands, where the MV Hondius is expected to dock, remains low.
