Key moments
- Spanish passengers are from Catalonia, Madrid, Asturias, Castile and León, Galicia, and the Valencian Community
- Three doctors join the cruise to attend to passengers on their trip to the Canary Islands
The World Health Organization confirmed this Wednesday the existence of an eighth case in the hantavirus outbreak that occurred aboard the MV Hondius and stated that the Andes strain, transmissible between humans, is the cause of the infections. The latest confirmed case is a Swiss citizen who disembarked with his wife before the outbreak was known and is being treated in Zurich. The detected variant is predominant in the southern cone of America and can develop into hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which raises the risk of death to almost 40%. Additionally, the WHO has reported that three passengers suspected of having the virus are being transferred to the Netherlands. In Spain, the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, convened a meeting with the Interior, Health, and Transport ministries this morning to address the World Health Organization’s request for Spain to host the MV Hondius vessel in the Canary Islands. The President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, complained about the “lack of loyalty and transparency” from the central government and requested an “urgent meeting” with Sánchez. “We do not know why passengers have to spend three days sailing to a Canary port when they could be evacuated by air from Cape Verde,” Clavijo stated.
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The Netherlands prepares to receive cruise passengers suspected of being infected with hantavirus
Leiden University Hospital has confirmed to the Dutch news agency ANP that it is preparing to receive one of the three patients evacuated from the cruise where a hantavirus outbreak occurred. Details about the destination of the other two have not been disclosed. Leiden is about 45 minutes from Amsterdam. The hospital has a specialized department for infectious and tropical diseases.
The German passenger evacuated from the ship will be transferred and treated in Düsseldorf after arriving in the Netherlands
The German passenger evacuated this morning from the cruise where a hantavirus outbreak occurred will be transferred to a hospital in the German city of Düsseldorf for testing, according to the newspaper Bild, adding that the woman shows no symptoms.
The passenger had contact with another German woman who died aboard the ship, according to the same publication. According to the German newspaper, a high-risk patient transport unit from the Düsseldorf fire department has departed for Amsterdam International Airport to pick up the woman. (Reuters)
One of the patients evacuated from the ship and transferred to the Netherlands.
The three patients evacuated from the ship are from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany, according to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The three people evacuated from the cruise affected by a hantavirus outbreak are from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Germany, according to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Two of the people are ill, and one may be infected with the virus but asymptomatic, according to the ministry. Medical tests confirming hantavirus infection have not yet been conducted, so they are currently suspected cases. They will be transferred to specialized hospitals in Europe, the statement adds, without providing further details. Previously, the WHO reported they would be transferred to the Netherlands. (Reuters)
The sick doctor who was to be transferred to the Canary Islands will finally travel to the Netherlands
The Spanish Ministry of Health has confirmed that planes transporting the three patients suspected of hantavirus linked to the outbreak detected on the MV Hondius cruise are already taking off. The patients will be transferred to the Netherlands to receive specialized medical care, in an operation coordinated with the involved health authorities and the World Health Organization. They are Dutch, German, and British nationals, according to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Health also specifies that the Dutch doctor on the ship, whose initial evacuation was planned to the Canary Islands after his condition worsened, will finally be transferred directly to the Netherlands. The decision was made after his clinical condition improved, allowing modification of the planned arrangement and avoiding his transfer to the archipelago.
Spanish passengers are from Catalonia, Madrid, Asturias, Castile and León, Galicia, and the Valencian Community
The Spaniards aboard the luxury cruise MV Hondius, affected by a hantavirus outbreak, are travelers from six communities: five from Catalonia, three from Madrid, three from Asturias, and one each from Castile and León, Galicia, and the Valencian Community, according to the Government Delegation in Asturias.
The Spaniards (13 passengers and one crew member), along with the rest of the passengers and crew, are expected to arrive in the Canary Islands in three or four days, according to the Ministry of Health, following the request from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Union for the cruise to make a stopover in the Canary Islands to manage the travelers’ healthcare. There are 149 people on board, from 23 different nationalities, including 88 passengers and 61 crew members. (EP)
Three patients suspected of hantavirus are evacuated and are being transferred to the Netherlands, according to the WHO
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reported that three patients suspected of having hantavirus “have just been evacuated from the ship and are on their way to receive medical care in the Netherlands.” The operation was organized between the ship operator and the national authorities of Cape Verde, the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands.
“The WHO continues to work with the ship operators to closely monitor the health of passengers and crew, collaborating with countries to support appropriate medical follow-up and evacuation when necessary. Monitoring and follow-up have been initiated for passengers on board and those who have already disembarked, in collaboration with the ship operators and national health authorities,” he explained in a message on X. The Director-General assured that “at this stage, the overall public health risk remains low.”
Three doctors join the cruise to accompany passengers on their trip to the Canary Islands
The shipping company Oceanwide, which operates the MV Hondius cruise, announced this morning via a statement that two infectious disease specialists will travel from the Netherlands to the ship. They will join another medical professional already on board treating three people with “acute symptoms” of hantavirus. One of the patients “has a close relationship” with the passenger who died on May 2. The three doctors will accompany the crew and passengers on their trip to the Canary Islands.
Additionally, the transfer of three infected people to medical facilities via specialized aircraft is planned for this morning, according to the shipping company. “Oceanwide [the shipping company] maintains constant dialogue with the relevant authorities about our exact arrival point,” they explain. “At this moment, we cannot confirm the details of the passengers’ subsequent travel,” they add. They also clarify that preventive measures are being applied to prevent the virus from spreading: “quarantine procedures,” “health checks for all passengers,” and “a precise schedule.”
Hantavirus
Why hantavirus has nothing to do with covid
The reappearance of Fernando Simón in some media stating that the risk of hantavirus is “very low” for Spain has reminded many of his early appearances before covid became a pandemic. Beyond the unpredictability of infectious diseases, this has nothing to do with that; hantavirus is quite different from SARS-CoV-2.
Read the full information here.
WHO confirms there are now eight infected in the outbreak
The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed the existence of an eighth infection in the hantavirus outbreak on the Antarctic cruise ‘MV Hondius’. It is a Swiss citizen who disembarked with his wife before the outbreak was known and was already in Zurich when he received an email from the operator OceanWide alerting about the infections. The man went to a hospital and is being treated there: “As of May 6, there are 8 cases, 3 of which have been confirmed as hantavirus through laboratory tests.” The outbreak is of the Andes hantavirus, the most contagious.
The Government says it has been in “permanent contact” with Clavijo and adds that the WHO’s request to transfer to the Canary Islands is “binding”
Ángel Víctor Torres, Minister of Territorial Policy, has assured that the Government has been in “permanent contact” with the President of the Canary Islands and that he tried to communicate with him this morning but both were attending events and appearing in the media.
Torres explained that the ship was initially planned to be transferred to the Netherlands “but circumstances changed following an official binding communication from the World Health Organization” which “conveys to the Government of Spain the need for that ship to be diverted to the closest port in our country and the closest port to Cape Verde, in this case the Canary Islands.”
The PP criticizes the Spanish Government’s management: “The confusion about hantavirus is unacceptable”
The PP’s Deputy Secretary for Health and Social Policy, Carmen Fúnez, criticized the Spanish Government’s management on the social network X. “In a health crisis, clarity is essential,” Fúnez wrote. “The confusion about hantavirus is unacceptable. We share with the Government the need to convey calm, but we demand concrete and constant information. Our support to those affected, especially the 14 Spaniards
Clavijo criticizes that the Government has not “officially” informed them of the transfer to the Canary Islands
Fernando Clavijo, President of the Canary Islands, denounced on TVE that the central government has not officially informed him of the transfer to Tenerife of the cruise where a hantavirus outbreak was detected. “I have complaints about the Government for the lack of loyalty and transparency with the Government of the Canary Islands,” he criticized and confirmed that he has requested a meeting with Sánchez.
Clavijo explained that the last official news he received was yesterday at noon when the plan was to evacuate sick passengers by helicopter and transfer the rest to the Netherlands. “We do not know why passengers have to spend three days sailing to a Canary port when they could be evacuated by air from Praia airport in Cape Verde,” said the Canary Islands president.
Regarding the transfer of the doctor on the ship, who is in serious condition, Clavijo said he received a message last night from the Minister of Health, Mónica García, “because there was a request from a patient who had worsened.” Clavijo says he asked for more information and received no response. “We have no official request for docking, no report, no WHO resolution, nor any communication,” he insisted.
Sánchez convenes an urgent meeting with four ministers to address the ship’s arrival in the Canary Islands
The Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has convened a meeting at the Moncloa Complex to address the World Health Organization’s request for Spain to host the MV Hondius vessel in the Canary Islands, “in compliance with international law and humanitarian spirit.” The meeting aims to coordinate the Executive’s response to an international request involving healthcare, security, logistics, and collaboration with Canary Islands authorities.
The meeting, scheduled for 11:30, is attended by the Minister of Health, Mónica García, along with the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska; the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, participating remotely; and the Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres.
Government sources explained that they are awaiting an epidemiological assessment report from the WHO on the cruise and that, once received, the President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, will be among the first to be informed.
The Swiss Government reports that a man infected with hantavirus is being treated in Zurich
A man infected with hantavirus is being treated in Zurich, according to the Swiss Government, which assures that there is currently no danger to the rest of the population.
The man returned to Switzerland after being a passenger on the cruise where several cases were registered and three people died, the statement adds, without specifying when this man left the ship.
The patient had returned from a trip to South America with his wife at the end of April. After experiencing symptoms, he went to the hospital for tests that confirmed a positive result for hantavirus, specifically the Andes strain, the same detected in other infected people from the same ship.
The patient’s wife also traveled with him, according to the Swiss Government. Authorities are investigating whether the patient had contact with other people. (Reuters)
The Canary Islands do not expect any flight with a seriously ill patient from the ‘MV Hondius’
Sources from the Health Department of the autonomous government ruled out on Wednesday that they expect the arrival of a flight with a person infected with hantavirus in the short term. In this regard, the spokesperson specified that although the La Candelaria Hospital will be the center to attend possible isolations of infected passengers, such actions must be activated beforehand. “Something like this cannot be improvised in any way,” they said.
The spokesperson for the Canary Islands government, Alfonso Cabello, stated in an interview with Canary radio that “that flight has been canceled,” and that at this moment, no one infected with hantavirus has “arrived” or is expected to arrive in the Canary Islands.
Clavijo rejects the cruise making a stopover in the Canary Islands and requests an “urgent meeting” with Sánchez
The President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, has rejected the cruise with hantavirus making a stopover in the islands and has requested an “urgent meeting” with the head of the Executive, Pedro Sánchez, over a decision that, in his opinion, does not follow “any technical criteria” nor is there “sufficient information to maintain a message of calm and guarantee the safety of the Canary Islands population.”
In statements to Onda Cero, Clavijo criticized the Spanish Government for its “institutional disloyalty” and lack of professionalism for not keeping him informed, while also reproaching the Minister of Health, Mónica García, for not providing explanations about the criteria followed by the World Health Organization (WHO). “I cannot allow it to enter the Canary Islands,” he insisted. Spain accepted, following the request of the WHO and the European Union, that the cruise make a stopover in the Canary Islands to manage the healthcare of passengers and crew under a strict international protocol. (EP)
South Africa has identified that the cruise’s hantavirus is of the most virulent strain
The South African Health Minister has confirmed that the hantavirus outbreak is of the Andes strain, the most virulent, after inspecting two people traveling on the affected cruise. It is the most dangerous strain of the virus, the only one among the 24 detected in humans that can be transmitted from person to person. This variant, predominant in the southern cone of America, can develop into hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which raises the risk of death to almost 40%. It was suspected, due to the cruise’s origin and the number of cases, that it was this variant, but it had not been confirmed until now.
The cruise will dock in Tenerife
The Canary Islands government points to the University Hospital of La Candelaria, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, as the center that will attend possible isolations of infected passengers, according to a spokesperson for the regional government. La Candelaria, after all, is the designated reference hospital in the Autonomous Community and has a high-demand unit for emerging diseases.
La Candelaria inaugurated in 2022, under the presidency of Ángel Víctor Torres, a building for emerging diseases annexed to the main building. These facilities, the regional government reported then, are prepared to attend any type of diseases such as covid, and others like Ebola or smallpox, with consultation and hospitalization areas and others arranged for isolation.
‘PODCAST’ | HANTAVIRUS
Amós García, epidemiologist, on hantavirus: “It has absolutely nothing to do with coronavirus”
Epidemiologist Amós García Rojas argues that the fuss generated by the hantavirus outbreak is unfounded: “A message of calm must be sent.”
You can listen to the podcast here
diseases
Spain agrees to receive the ship with the hantavirus outbreak and the seriously ill doctor in the Canary Islands
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Spanish Government have agreed that the luxury cruise MV Hondius, anchored in Cape Verde with 147 people on board, hit by a hantavirus outbreak that has affected seven people — three of whom have died — will finally disembark in the Canary Islands. This was announced by the Ministry of Health late Tuesday after a team of epidemiologists reviewed the condition of the ship’s occupants in the afternoon.
You can read the full information here
The WHO director asks that passengers disembark “as soon as possible” to reduce the risk of contagion
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus sent a letter of thanks to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez this Tuesday for finally allowing the cruise to dock in the Canary Islands. In the letter, he urges the Spanish Government to work “collectively” and “avoid unnecessary restrictions that lack public health justification, even regarding the movement” of travelers as a “humanitarian imperative.”
“Passengers and crew of the MV Hondius must be able to disembark as soon as possible to reduce any additional psychological harm, and to provide proper medical management of non-hantavirus medical issues among passengers and crew, many of whom are elderly,” he explains in his letter. “The benefits of disembarking travelers as soon as possible will reduce the risk of other contacts developing the disease on board, where it is difficult to manage and diagnose; allow earlier complete disinfection of the ship; and limit the time at sea for any passenger who may develop symptoms shortly after departing Cape Verde, thus reducing the likelihood of developing severe illness,” he notes.
Cape Verde confirms the arrival of ambulance planes to evacuate hantavirus patients
The authorities of Cape Verde have confirmed the arrival in the country of one of the two ambulance planes that will evacuate three patients due to the hantavirus outbreak registered on the cruise that departed from Argentina and is anchored off its capital, Praia.
“The medical evacuation of the three patients will take place in the coming hours, using two ambulance planes, in coordination with the competent national and international authorities,” stated the Cape Verde Ministry of Health in a statement issued late Tuesday. “One of the ambulance planes is already in Cape Verde, and the arrival of a second plane is expected soon,” the department emphasized. (Efe)
Hantavirus
Logbook of the ‘MV Hondius’: from Ushuaia to the Canary Islands, a diary of a hantavirus outbreak
In the port of Ushuaia, scientific ships, icebreakers, and cruises like the Grand Princess, one of the largest in the world, gather. In this context, the MV Hondius would not stand out. It is an expedition ship reinforced for ice with a length of 107 meters and capacity for about 170 people. On March 20, 149 boarded, broken down into 88 passengers and 59 crew members. Together, they represent 23 nationalities, and 14 are Spanish: as far as is known so far, five Catalans, three from Madrid, one Galician, and one Valencian. The latter is also part of the crew, the oceanographer Aitana Forcén-Vázquez, who acts as a guide for tourists. There is also an elderly Dutch couple who have traveled through several points in Chile and Argentina before arriving here, at the southernmost point of the continent. The MV Hondius advertises numerous amenities and a luxurious atmosphere on its website. Prices for this trip range between 15,000 and 25,000 euros. They promise stops at some of the most remote islands on the planet, visiting diverse ecosystems and ending in Cape Verde, known as the African Caribbean. But they will never reach their destination. This is the logbook of their journey.
You can read the full information here
Good morning. The Ministry of Health and the Government of the Canary Islands continue to monitor the situation of the MV Hondius cruise, after accepting the World Health Organization’s request for the ship to head from Cape Verde to the Canary Islands and for its onboard doctor, one of those affected by the hantavirus outbreak, to be urgently hospitalized in the islands.
