A total of eight people – including a Swiss citizen who returned home and is being treated in Zurich – are suspected of having contracted the virus. Three people have already died
The luxury cruise ship hit by a deadly outbreak and stranded since Sunday off the coast of Cape Verde was about to leave for Spain this Wednesday, after three people, two of them seriously ill, were evacuated, writes Reuters.
The MV Hondius, with around 150 people on board, is expected to dock in Tenerife in the Canary Islands within three days, Spain’s health minister said, adding that those still on board were not showing any symptoms of the disease.
Once in Tenerife, if they are still healthy, all non-Spanish citizens will be repatriated to their countries, Mónica Garcia said at a press conference in Madrid.
Spanish passengers will undergo quarantine
The 14 Spanish passengers will be quarantined at a military hospital in Madrid, Garcia said. The length of quarantine will depend on when they may have come into contact with the virus, she said, adding that the virus has an incubation period of 45 days.
Three people – a Dutch couple and a German citizen – have died so far due to the outbreak.
A total of eight people – including a Swiss citizen who returned home and is being treated in Zurich – are suspected of having contracted the virus, three of which were confirmed by laboratory tests, the World Health Organization reported.
South Africa confirmed that it had identified the Andean strain of the virus among the victims, which can – in rare cases – come through very close contact.
“This is the only strain (of hantavirus) known to cause human-to-human transmission, but such transmission is very rare and… only occurs due to very close contact,” the South African Ministry of Health said.
Three passengers removed from cruise
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a publication on X that the three people removed from the ship on Wednesday were on their way to the Netherlands.
The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that these people included a Dutch, a German and a British person, and that they would be transported to specialized hospitals in Europe.
Two of the people evacuated were showing acute symptoms, the ship’s operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, said. The third person was closely linked to the German passenger who died on the ship on May 2. The Dutch ministry stated that this person was possibly infected with the virus.
The ship departed the southern tip of Argentina in late March and traveled to some of the most remote locations on the planet.
Cape Verde had been the ship’s intended final destination, but the island nation off West Africa did not allow passengers to disembark due to the outbreak.
