Spain Evacuates MV Hondius Passengers After Hantavirus Outbreak in Tenerife

A Dutch-flagged cruise ship, the MV Hondius, arrived near the Port of Granadilla in Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands on Sunday as Spain began the process of disembarking passengers after a hantavirus outbreak on board.

Al Jazeera reported the ship arrived early on Sunday escorted by a Civil Guard vessel, and that the World Health Organization said on Friday that at least eight people on the ship had fallen ill, including three who died.

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NBC News said the Hondius had six passengers with confirmed cases of hantavirus and two with suspected cases, and that three of those people have died, including two who died while aboard the ship.

The evacuation plan described by CBS News said the first passengers to leave would be Spanish passengers, followed by a Netherlands-bound flight that would include Germans, Belgians, Greeks and part of the crew.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote in an open letter to the people of Tenerife, “This is not another COVID.”

CBS News said the MV Hondius was carrying nearly 150 people from more than 15 countries, and that Oceanwide Expeditions planned to evacuate passengers Sunday using launch boats carrying a maximum of five to 10 people.

NBC News reported that passengers started evacuating shortly after the vessel arrived off Tenerife, and that Spanish nationals were expected to be the first to disembark with their first plane departing shortly afterward for Madrid.

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NBC News quoted WHO’s Maria Van Kerkhove saying the WHO is recommending “active monitoring and follow-up” for all passengers and crew for 42 days from their “last point of exposure” to a confirmed case.

The Guardian described passengers being taken by coach to Tenerife airport after being screened, with Spanish passengers wearing blue plastic ponchos and hair coverings as they were taken off the vessel by medical teams in hazmat suits.

In a statement carried by NBC News, acting CDC director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said, “Hantavirus is not spread by people without symptoms, transmission requires close contact, and the risk to the American public is very low.”

As the evacuation continued, the operation depended on international logistics, with CBS News describing a sequence of flights that would include Canada, Turkey, France, Great Britain, Ireland and the U.S., and a final flight to Australia set for Monday.

WHSV, an Associated Press report, said the expected sailing time to Rotterdam is around five days, and that some crew and the body of a passenger who died on board would remain on the ship for disinfection in the Netherlands.

WHSV also reported that the U.S., the U.K. and the Netherlands were sending planes to evacuate their citizens, and that Americans on board would be quarantined at a medical center in Nebraska.

The Guardian said the WHO and Spanish government told authorities they would not come into contact with people in Tenerife, and it described the virus as serious but not expected to result in another pandemic.

In a message carried by Al Jazeera, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus assured Tenerife residents that the risk to them from the ship was low, writing, “I need you to hear me clearly.”