Patients on cruise ship stricken with Hantavirus outbreak evacuated
Three patients have been medically evacuated from the cruise ship MV Hondius and will now be sent to the Netherlands for treatment after allegedly picking up rodent-spread hantavirus on board the contaminated ship.
The MV Hondius departed Argentina on April 1st. By April 10th, the first passenger had died from the disease. Two more passed away, and a third was left seriously ill in the suspected outbreak onboard the ship crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
The three patients who have now been evacuated include a 56-year-old Briton, a 41-year-old Dutchman, and a 65-year-old German. One of them was removed in fully protective clothing, as shown in photographs shared by the BBC.
The Spanish health minister has confirmed that the Briton is in a “more stable condition” after previously being in a “critical condition” from overwhelming respiratory symptoms.
So far, it is only an absolute certainty that a Dutch woman who passed away on the ship had tested positive for the virus; the causes of death for other passengers, including her husband, are still being determined.
Hantavirus is usually spread from rodents via their faeces, saliva, or urine, and can cause severe respiratory illness. It is rarely transmitted between people, which explains why the eight suspected cases are baffling so many experts.
The evacuation of the three passengers might now shed light on the ship’s next movements, as the vessel was recently blocked from docking in Tenerife on May 6th by the leader of the Canary Islands after Spain’s government said it would permit it.
The operator of the luxury cruise ship has now requested to dock at the Spanish port of Santa Cruz on the island of Tenerife on May 9th.
Passenger Qasem Elhato recently shared an insight into life on board the ship, writing as per The Independent that “morale on the ship is high and we’re keeping ourselves busy with reading, watching movies, having hot drinks and that kind of things.”
