3 evacuated off cruise ship with suspected hantavirus cluster, WHO says

LONDON and BELGRADE, Serbia — Three people have been evacuated off of the MV Hondius, a cruise ship with a suspected hantavirus cluster, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday. 

WHO officials in Cape Verde told ABC News that the patients were to be transferred to ambulances waiting on the shore to receive them. The three were then to be taken to an airport, where they were expected to board a special medevac flight to the Netherlands. 

“WHO continues to work with the ship’s operators to closely monitor the health of passengers and crew, working with countries to support appropriate medical follow-up and evacuation where needed,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the WHO, said on social media, where he confirmed the evacuations.

“Monitoring and follow-up for passengers on board and for those who have already disembarked has been initiated in collaboration with the ship’s operators and national health authorities,” he added.

He said that “the overall public health risk remains low.”

The WHO said on Wednesday that eight suspected cases of hantavirus were recorded among passengers on the ship, an increase from the seven reported on Tuesday. Three of the cases had been confirmed by lab testing, WHO said. 

“Swiss authorities have confirmed a case ofhantavirus identified in a passenger from the MV Hondius cruise ship,” the WHO said on social media on Wednesday. “He had responded to an email from the ship’s operator informing the passengers of the health event, and presented himself to a hospital in Zurich, Switzerland, and is receiving care.”

There have been three deaths among the reported cases, including a married couple from the Netherlands, one of whom was confirmed to have been infected with hantavirus, authorities said.

Cape Verde officials said on Tuesday that the vessel was expected to sail to the Spanish island of Tenerife, where Spanish health authorities were to take over further investigations, including lab testing and clinical assessments, particularly for older passengers.

The leader of the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago off the northwestern coast of Africa, said on Wednesday that the regional government was opposed to allowing the luxury cruise ship to dock at Tenerife. 

“This decision is not based on any technical criteria, nor is there sufficient information to reassure the public or guarantee their safety,” Fernando Clavijo, the president of the Canary Islands told radio station COPE, according to Reuters.

Clavijo said on social media that he had requested a meeting with the Spanish prime minister to discuss the ship. He added that the Canary Islands “always acts with responsibility, but it cannot accept decisions taken behind the backs of the Canary Islands institutions and without sufficient information to the population.”

WHO officials earlier on Wednesday said the three evacuated people were to be transferred to planes bound for both the Netherlands and Tenerife, but later updated the plan so that all would be sent to the Netherlands, officials told ABC News.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.