MV Hondius cruise ship carrying hantavirus cases arrives at Canary Islands

The cruise ship MV Hondius, where a hantavirus outbreak was reported, has arrived near the Spanish island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands, according to data from the vessel tracking portal VesselFinder.

Passengers are expected to remain on board until repatriation flights arrive. Spain’s Ministry of Defense is set to transport 14 Spanish nationals from the Canary Islands to a hospital in Madrid, where they will undergo quarantine. They are expected to become the first passengers to leave the vessel.

Spanish authorities have developed a special protocol for evacuating people from the cruise liner. Officials also stressed that the arrival of MV Hondius near the Canary Islands poses no threat to the local population.

After the evacuation process is completed, the ship, carrying around 30 crew members, is expected to sail to the Netherlands for disinfection.

A total of eight people on board have tested positive for hantavirus. Three passengers have died, while another infected person remains in critical condition at a hospital in Johannesburg. 

To prevent further spread of the infection, passengers have been instructed to stay inside their cabins. However, the incubation period for hantavirus can last several weeks, complicating efforts to quickly identify new cases.

The vessel departed from Ushuaia, Argentina, in April and was heading to the Canary Islands as its final cruise destination. Around 150 people are on board, most of them citizens of the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands. One Russian citizen is part of the crew. The ship has already made stops at several islands in the Atlantic Ocean.

By Jeyhun Aghazada