90-Second Read: First Hantavirus Cruise Ship Passengers Arrive in Home Countries

The first passengers from a cruise ship hit by a Hantavirus outbreak arrived in their home countries on Sunday after evacuating from the vessel earlier in the day. Since the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius departed from Argentina, six confirmed cases of Hantavirus and two suspected cases have been linked to the outbreak on the ship, and three passengers have died. The ship is anchored offshore in the Canary Islands, where passengers from different countries were being taken to Tenerife airport in military vehicles and sent to their respective home countries while avoiding contact with the public. Evacuations from the cruise ship at the center of the outbreak began on Sunday and are expected to last into Monday. The first group was seen wearing personal protective equipment, face masks, hazmat suits and.

Spain's health ministry said none of the first group to disembark exhibited symptoms of the virus. When they get home, they will likely be taken to isolation facilities while medical staff monitor their health. We want to treat it with our Hantavirus protocols that were successful at containing outbreaks in the past. The virus is typically associated with rodents, but it may have passed from human to human aboard the vessel, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). So they shouldn't be scared and they shouldn't panic," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said of the public on Sunday.

Thirty crew members will remain on board the ship as it sails back to the Netherlands for disinfection. WHO officials said Sunday that the risk to the public remains "low," even as the president of the Canary Islands opposed the ship's docking, citing fear of infection risk and potential harm to the tourism economy. The Andes virus has a long incubation period and we cannot be sure that they will not have symptoms if they do not pass the 42 days," Diana Rojas, head of high-impact diseases, told the media. People should know these facilities were specifically designed to prevent exposure to the public.

Officials added that quarantine must continue in each passenger's home country in order to ensure the disease does not spread.