90-Second Read: Cruise ship stricken by Hantavirus reaches Canary Islands, where passengers, some crew, will be evacuated

Health officials will begin the complex process of evacuating the passengers and most of the crew, and repatriating them to their respective countries. The MV Hondius, currently carrying nearly 150 people from more than 15 countries, including 17 Americans, had set sail earlier this week from Cape Verde to the port of Granadilla on Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands, after Spain agreed to take the ship. There are at least nine confirmed or suspected cases of Hantavirus linked to the outbreak, including three fatalities, a Dutch couple and a German woman. Oceanwide Expeditions, the ship's operator, says that all passengers and a portion of the approximately 60 crew members will begin evacuating the ship Sunday using launch boats that carry a maximum of five to 10 people. Hantaviruses.

Hantavirus is not spread by people without symptoms, transmission requires close contact, and the risk to the American public is very low," Bhattacharya said in a statement Wednesday. The man developed symptoms on April 6 and died on the ship on April 11, WHO said, but no samples were taken because his symptoms were similar to those of other respiratory viruses, and Hantavirus was not suspected at the time. The Hondius set sail for its cruise April 1 from Ushuaia, Argentina, which took it to several islands in the south Atlantic, including the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, Tristan da Cunha, Gough Island and then St. Video from Reuters showed the ship near the port of Granadilla. Hondius was escorted by a Spanish Civil Guard vessel, Agence France-Press journalists.

The World Health Organization has said that, so far, none of those still aboard were showing symptoms. WHO says that the Andes strain, which is found in Latin America, is the only one that is known to be able to transmit the virus through human-to-human contact, with Ghebreyesus assessing the public risk as "low," an assessment which was echoed by acting CDC director Dr. Oceanwide Expeditions said 32 passengers from about a dozen countries had disembarked the Hondius in St. The vessel then anchored off the coast of Cape Verde, an archipelago located off West Africa, for several days before heading to the Canary Islands. The evacuation is being coordinated by WHO and several other health organizations.

She showed serious symptoms on a flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, on April 25, and died in South Africa the following day, WHO said. A British man was medically evacuated to South Africa, while another British national who had disembarked the ship is hospitalized on the island of Tristan da Cunha, a British territory. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services. It can take up to eight weeks after contact for symptoms to develop. The German woman showed symptoms on April 28 and died aboard the ship on May 2, according to WHO.