90-Second Read: Passengers disembark from cruise ship at center of Hantavirus outbreak

Passengers started disembarking Sunday from the Hantavirus-hit cruise ship anchored off Spain's Canary Islands. But the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases. Three people have died since the outbreak, and five passengers who left the ship are infected with Hantavirus, which can cause life-threatening illness. None of the more than 140 people on the Hondius has shown symptoms of the virus, Spain's health ministry, the World Health Organization and cruise company Oceanwide Expeditions said. Authorities have said the passengers and crew members disembarking will be checked for symptoms, have no contact with the local population and will only be taken off the ship once evacuation flights are ready to fly them to their destinations.

Passengers and crew members disembarking are leaving behind their luggage, and are allowed to take only a small bag with essential items, a cellphone, a charger, and documentation. Five French passengers will be repatriated Sunday, and will be hospitalized for 72 hours for monitoring, after which they will quarantine at home for 45 days, France's Foreign Ministry said. British Army medics have parachuted onto the remote South Atlantic territory of Tristan da Cunha, where one of the 221 residents has a suspected case of Hantavirus. Those disembarking and personnel working at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife were wearing protective gear during the evacuation process, including face masks, hazmat suits and respirators. The expected sailing time to Rotterdam is around five days, the cruise company said.

Passengers and some crew members from more than 20 nationalities on board will be evacuated throughout Sunday into Monday. Hantavirus usually spreads when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings and isn't easily transmitted between people. Norway has sent an ambulance plane to Tenerife with personnel trained to transport patients with high-risk infections, its Directorate for Civil Protection told public broadcaster NRK. Meanwhile, a Spanish woman in the southeastern province of Alicante suspected of being infected tested negative for Hantavirus, Spanish health authorities said Saturday. After reaching Madrid, those evacuated on the first plane will be under quarantine, Spanish health authorities say.

Americans on board will be quarantined at a medical center in Nebraska. The patient was a passenger on the MV Hondius and disembarked last month. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Spain's health and interior ministers are supervising the operation in Tenerife. Symptoms usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure. The woman was a passenger on the same flight as the Dutch woman who died in Johannesburg after traveling on the cruise ship.