Madrid, May 10 (IANS) World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reassured residents on the Spanish island of Tenerife that the public health risk remained low as the cruise ship MV Hondius approached the Canary Islands following a hantavirus outbreak onboard.The vessel, carrying 147 people, is expected to arrive between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. local time Sunday (0300-0500 GMT). Three passengers have died and five others have been confirmed infected since the outbreak …
Latest MV Hondius News & Updates
Geneva, May 10 (IANS) The World Health Organization (WHO) said that all people aboard a cruise ship affected by a hantavirus outbreak should be considered “high-risk” contacts and actively monitored for 42 days.”We classify everybody on board as what we call a high-risk contact,” Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, told a media briefing. She noted that currently “nobody on board has any symptoms,” but recommended “active monitoring and follow-…
New Delhi, May 9 (IANS) The World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday said the hantavirus outbreak is not another COVID pandemic, and the current public health risk remains low.WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a message that “I know you are worried”.“The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment. But I need you to hear me clearly: this is not another COVID. The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low. My colleagues and I …
Washington, May 9 (IANS) American passengers aboard the cruise ship at the centre of a hantavirus outbreak will be quarantined in Nebraska upon arrival in the United States, local media reported, citing an official from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The passengers will be received at the National Quarantine Unit, a secured facility on the University of Nebraska Medical Centre campus in Omaha, said Michael Wadman, the unit’s medical director, reports Xinhua, quoting NBC…
Madrid, May 8 (IANS) Spanish Secretary of State for Health Javier Padilla said on Friday that the health authorities had taken relevant measures after detecting a suspected case of hantavirus in the eastern city of Alicante.The person travelled several weeks ago on the same flight as one of the infected individuals, Padilla said.He added that the person had developed symptoms compatible with hantavirus infection, although the authorities are still assessing whether the case can be confirmed, Xin…
New Delhi, May 8 (IANS) The Union Health Ministry has stepped up surveillance measures following a Hantavirus outbreak onboard the cruise ship MV Hondius, with authorities closely monitoring the situation in coordination with national and international health agencies.According to a senior health official cited by NDTV, the ministry, along with the National Centre for Disease Control, the World Health Organisation and other international health authorities, has activated high-level surveillance …
London, May 8 (IANS) Two British nationals have been confirmed to have contracted hantavirus, with a third suspected of infection, on the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, the UK Health Security Agency said on Friday.None of the British citizens on board the cruise ship MV Hondius is currently reporting symptoms, but they are being closely monitored, said the agency, adding that all British passengers and crew onboard will be asked to isolate for 45 days upon returning to Britain.Britis…
New Delhi, May 7 (IANS) Amid the global alarm, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday confirmed five hantavirus cases linked to cruise ship outbreak, while three additional cases remain suspected.Eight severe respiratory illness cases, including three deaths, have been identified, with five confirmed as Andes virus infections.WHO has now informed 12 countries whose nationals disembarked the cruise ship MV Hondius earlier during the voyage at the remote British territory of Saint Helena …
Madrid, May 7 (IANS) Two suspected hantavirus patients evacuated from the cruise ship MV Hondius remained aboard a grounded air ambulance in Spain’s Canary Islands while awaiting a replacement aircraft following a technical malfunction, Spain’s Health Ministry said.The aircraft had departed from Cape Verde and was originally expected to refuel in the western Moroccan city of Marrakesh en route to Amsterdam. However, according to Spanish media reports, Moroccan authorities did not authorise the l…
Madrid, May 6 (IANS) Spain will receive the hantavirus-linked vessel MV Hondius in the Canary Islands in accordance with international law and the spirit of humanitarianism, the Spanish Health Ministry said in a statement on social media. According to the statement posted on Tuesday (local time), the World Health Organization (WHO), in coordination with the European Union, has requested the Spanish government to receive the vessel currently located near Cape Verde, where hantavirus infection cas…