90-Second Read: Hantavirus cruise ship evacuations under way in Spain’s Canary Islands

Passengers evacuated from Hantavirus-hit cruise ship in Tenerife as French national develops symptoms on return flight. Passengers from the cruise ship infected with Hantavirus have been flown home on board military and government aircraft after the vessel arrived in Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Hantavirus is usually spread by rodents, but in rare cases, it can be transmitted person-to-person. The cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions listed 13 Spanish passengers, and one Spanish crew member on board the Dutch-flagged vessel.

The ship headed to Tenerife on Wednesday from Cape Verde in the Atlantic after the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Union asked Spain to manage the evacuation of its passengers. The WHO estimated there are 10,000 to 100,000 Hantavirus infections annually. Health authorities have been racing to locate and monitor dozens of passengers who disembarked before the outbreak was formally identified on May 2. After being stranded at sea for weeks, the stricken vessel was allowed to anchor in the port of Granadilla de Abona, which is close to Tenerife Sur airport.

Three people died in the outbreak on board the Hondius since it left South America on April 1. Spanish nationals were the first to leave and were flown to Madrid to begin their quarantine, Spanish health authorities said. French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said one of the five had developed symptoms during the repatriation flight. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrived in Tenerife on Saturday evening, along with Spain's ministers of health, interior and territorial policy to coordinate the ship's arrival.

Later, passengers from Turkiye, France, Britain and the United States were flown home. All five had been placed in strict isolation, with 72 hours of hospitalisation to be followed by 45 days of home quarantine. Argentina has the highest number of cases in the Americas, with a fatality rate of 32 percent, higher than the average for other strains of the virus.