90-Second Read: Hantavirus-hit cruise ship docks in the Netherlands

A cruise ship hit by a deadly Hantavirus outbreak has docked in the Netherlands for disinfection. Late Sunday, the WHO said it was maintaining its assessment of the Hantavirus outbreak as "low risk". The Hantavirus outbreak on Hondius is the first known case on a cruise ship. Three passengers of the ship died, including a Dutch couple who health officials believe were the first exposed to the virus while visiting South America.

While additional cases may still occur among passengers and crew members exposed before containment measures were implemented, the risk of onward transmission is expected to be reduced following disembarkation and the implementation of control measures. Crew members who are unable to return home will be quarantined in the Netherlands, the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport said last week. Some two dozen passengers and crew members have already been in quarantine in the Netherlands after arriving in the country on different flights in the last two weeks. MV Hondius was carrying 25 crew members and two medical personnel as it reached the Dutch port of Rotterdam.

According to the ship operator Oceanwide Expeditions, no one on board is experiencing any symptoms. The Public Health Agency of Canada said one of the four Canadians in isolation after leaving the ship had tested positive on Sunday. After everyone on board has disembarked, the ship will be decontaminated based on Dutch public health guidelines. Public health officials will inspect the ship before it is allowed to sail again.

The crew will enter immediate quarantine, with those who cannot be immediately repatriated spending their time in quarantine in these containers. The MV Hondius has spent the past six days sailing from the Canary Islands, where the remaining passengers were evacuated and boarded flights to more than 20 countries to enter quarantine.