90-Second Read: Americans evacuated from Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship off Spanish island

The cruise ship at the center of a deadly Hantavirus outbreak arrived early Sunday off the Spanish island of Tenerife, where the process of sending most passengers back to their home countries will get underway. TENERIFE, Spain, The American passengers who were aboard the cruise ship at the center of a deadly Hantavirus outbreak are on evacuation flights en route to the U.S., the Department of Health and Human Services said Sunday night. Six confirmed cases of Hantavirus and two suspected cases have been linked to the outbreak on the ship, the World Health Organization said Friday. Passengers started evacuating the cruise ship Sunday shortly after it arrived in Tenerife, the largest of Spain's Canary Islands off West Africa.

The ship is anchored offshore in the Canary Islands to enable the evacuation after Spanish officials overruled local leaders who had opposed the move, fearful of the infection risk and any potential economic hit to Tenerife's tourism-dominated economy. On May 2, a month after the ship left Ushuaia, Argentina, "a cluster of passengers with severe respiratory illness" on board was reported to the WHO, the health organization said. Two days later, Hantavirus was confirmed in a passenger who had been medically evacuated to a hospital in South Africa, the company said. All 17 American citizens aboard the MV Hondius are on their way home, officials said.

The four Canadian passengers will be taken to a predetermined location in British Columbia, where they will self-isolate for at least 21 or up to 42 days if there is a need to extend, the country's public health officials said. Health officials have stressed that the risk to the global population and to the residents of Tenerife, off western Africa, is low. Hantavirus is typically contracted through contact with rodents, especially when people are exposed to their urine, droppings and saliva. Hantavirus can have a fatality rate of around 40% to 50%, the WHO says, and the elderly are particularly at risk.

The passengers will be hospitalized for monitoring upon repatriation. Phil Helsel reported from Los Angeles, Freddie Clayton from London, Mirna Alsharif from New York and Mo Abbas and Daniele Hamamdjian from Tenerife. We are confident in the quality of care that these individuals will receive along with the protocols to keep healthcare workers safe.