European Commission Coordinates EU Response to Hantavirus Outbreak Aboard MV Hondius

The European Commission is coordinating and supporting national authorities’ responses to the Hantavirus outbreak, with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control assessing the risk to the general population in Europe as very low.

“Spanish and European authorities continue intensive international efforts to contain the implications of the hantavirus outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondos, amid French confirmations of a deteriorating condition in one of the infected, and Madrid's announcement of an unprecedented evacuation coordinated with the World Health Organization and the European Civil Protection Mechanism”

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Since Spain activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism on 6 May, the EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre has facilitated safe evacuations of people aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship, including 5 repatriation flights coordinated and co-funded by the EU that departed from Tenerife.

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The Commission has pre-positioned in Tenerife a medical evacuation aircraft from the EU fleet and hosted by Norway, and it has deployed a Liaison Officer to Tenerife to support on-site coordination throughout the operation.

ECDC deployed 2 experts from the EU Health Task Force on the ship before people were disembarked, and the Health Security Committee chaired by the Commission is bringing together national health authorities to align measures for safe disembarkation, repatriation and follow-up.

Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib said, ‘Health threats can easily cross borders and that is why coordination is key.’

ECDC said passengers and crew who have symptoms require immediate medical isolation, testing and medical care, while those who do not have symptoms are asked to quarantine and monitor for symptoms for up to six weeks.

ECDC reported that today one new confirmed case has been reported in France, describing it as a former passenger who developed acute symptoms on the flight returning to France and who is currently in intensive care.

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Dr Pamela Rendi-Wagner, Director of ECDC, said, ‘Because of remaining uncertainties and the long incubation period, it is possible that we may see additional cases in former passengers and crew in the coming weeks.’

ECDC also deployed additional experts through the EU Health Task Force on Saturday, 9 May, to provide technical and operational support to Spanish authorities as needed, and it engaged the EU Public Health Reference Laboratory for emerging, rodent-borne, and zoonotic viral pathogens to support rapid diagnostics.

ECDC said recent genetic sequencing strongly suggests the confirmed tested passenger samples are linked to the same original source of infection, and it added that there is currently no evidence the virus spreads more easily or causes more severe disease than other Andes viruses.

France imposed strict measures after one of the five passengers who returned from the infected ship tested positive, and the passengers plus anyone with a “serious risk of infection” can be subject to up to 42 days’ isolation.

“French national shows symptoms on return from hantavirus-hit ship Sébastien Lecornu said the French national developed symptoms while on a chartered flight from Tenerife to Paris, and so all five evacuated from the MV Hondius had been "immediately placed in strict isolation until further notice"”

BBC

BBC reported that Sébastien Lecornu said the French national developed symptoms while on a chartered flight from Tenerife to Paris and that all five evacuated from the MV Hondius had been “immediately placed in strict isolation until further notice.”

Euronews said the last passengers on board the cruise ship will be evacuated during the day and transferred to their home countries, where they will undergo a quarantine period, and it noted that the MV Hondius reached the Spanish coastal port of Granadilla de Abona in Tenerife on Sunday.

Euronews also reported that WHO infectious disease epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove said, “I want to be unequivocal here. This is not SARS-CoV-2. This is not the start of a COVID pandemic. This is an outbreak that we see on a ship,” while warning that more infections could still emerge because the virus can have an incubation period of up to six weeks.

The BBC further quoted Helen Clark, co-chair of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, saying, “Passengers disembarked and dispersed to the four winds when there had been a death of a potentially infectious pathogen on board,” as she argued there were lessons to be learnt about managing viral outbreaks on ships.