The last remaining passengers from a cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak have disembarked and boarded flights to more than 20 countries for quarantine, as health officials confirmed new cases in France and the United States.
The MV Hondius, which anchored in the Canary Islands after the outbreak, saw passengers escorted ashore in Tenerife by personnel in full protective gear and breathing masks. Three cruise ship passengers have died, and six people with confirmed or suspected hantavirus infections are being quarantined, according to the World Health Organization.
Among the latest developments, a French woman was confirmed infected and is in intensive care in stable condition at a Paris hospital. In the United States, 18 evacuated passengers were flown home, including 16 who were taken to the University of Nebraska Medical Center for monitoring and quarantine.
The outbreak is believed to be the first ever on a cruise ship. Health authorities say hantavirus has no cure or vaccine, although early detection and treatment improve survival rates. Officials have also said the risk to the public remains low.
Passengers began leaving the ship on Sunday after it anchored off the Canary Islands. Their transfer to shore continued under tight health controls and concluded on Monday, when the final passengers boarded international flights to begin quarantine in their home countries.
“If they stayed longer on the ship, the situation could have been difficult,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization. He added that countries receiving the passengers should know “there is nothing to fear, the risk is low, this is not another COVID.”
The WHO said the passengers are being monitored in line with public health guidance. Sarah Tyler, a WHO spokesperson, said the lab results of the American who initially tested positive were inconclusive.
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said the French patient was in intensive care and stable. He said four other French passengers who returned on Sunday tested negative but remained in isolation at the same hospital.
In the United States, one of the 18 evacuated passengers also tested positive, though officials said that person had no symptoms. Another had mild symptoms and was being tested further. The 16 passengers sent to Nebraska were assessed to determine whether they had close contact with symptomatic travellers and what level of risk they may pose.
The University of Nebraska Medical Center, which has a federally funded quarantine facility and a biocontainment unit, received the U.S. group early on Monday. Dr Angela Hewlett, the unit’s medical director, said the passenger who tested positive “is doing well and not having symptoms at this time.”
Dr Michael Wadman, the quarantine unit’s medical director, said the others arrived “in good shape, good spirits.” Two more American passengers, a couple, arrived on Monday at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, where one had mild symptoms and was due to be tested.
Public health experts have criticised the speed of the U.S. response, but Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr rejected claims that cuts at his agency had left the country less prepared. “We have this under control,” he said Monday, “and we’re not worried about it.”
The ship’s captain, Jan Dobrogowski, issued a video message praising passengers and crew for their courage and perseverance and asked for privacy for those affected. “I could not imagine sailing through these circumstances with a better group of people, guests and crew alike,” he said.
Oceanwide Expeditions, which owns and operates the vessel, said 25 crew members and two medical professionals were also involved in the response as the ship handled the outbreak.
