90-Second Read: Hantavirus-hit cruise ship arrives in Tenerife, passengers expected to return home

All of the passengers of the MV Hondius and some of its crew have been evacuated from the Hantavirus-hit cruise ship, as authorities continue to test people and monitor symptoms of the rare virus that has triggered an international health response. There have been nine reported cases and seven confirmed cases of Hantavirus in the outbreak so far, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). American passengers from Hantavirus-hit cruise ship, including one presumed positive, arrive in Nebraska for evaluation The US passengers landed early Monday in Nebraska, home to the National Quarantine Unit. The World Health Organization chief says he expects more cases to emerge among passengers, but virus is 'not another Covid' and risk to the public remains low.

The WHO director general said that he expected "more cases" to emerge among passengers due to the six to eight-week incubation period of the virus. Of the eighteen passengers evacuated to the US, 16 have been transferred to Nebraska, including at least one individual who tested positive for the Hantavirus. A plane carrying 14 Spanish passengers who had been aboard the Hantavirus-hit liner landed at Torrejon de Ardoz military airport, east of the capital Madrid, on Sunday afternoon. The last of the passengers left the ship on Monday, some waving goodbye to the vessel before heading to their evacuation flights after more than five weeks at sea.

Evacuations involved 94 passengers of 19 nationalities, according to Spanish health authorities. One of the 17 American passengers who was evacuated from the ship Sunday tested "mildly" positive for the Andes strain of the virus on a PCR test, while a second is showing mild symptoms, the US Department of Health and Human Services said. A French woman who was on board the MV Hondius has also tested positive for Hantavirus and is being treated in a specialist hospital, French Health Minister Stephanie Rist told French radio station France Inter Monday. Since the vessel departed Argentina last month, the deaths of three people have been linked to Hantavirus -, a rare disease typically caused by exposure to infected rodents' urine or feces, while others have been evacuated from the ship for medical treatment.

Prior to disembarking, medical teams boarded the ship to run tests on passengers and crew, Spain's health minister Mónica García said shortly before 8 a.m. Passengers' luggage will remain on the ship and be returned to them later, Oceanwide said. Flights evacuating the remaining passengers departed for the Netherlands on Monday, Spain's health ministry said.