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. Three people have died since the outbreak began, and five passengers who left the ship earlier are infected with Hantavirus. But the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases. One of the five French passengers developed symptoms on the flight, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said in a statement, and all were put into strict isolation with plans to be tested.

Passengers and disembarking crew members left behind their luggage and were allowed to take only a small bag with essentials, a cellphone, a charger and documentation. Earlier, for example, the French Foreign Ministry said its passengers would be hospitalized for 72 hours of monitoring, then would quarantine at home for 45 days. Elsewhere, British Army medics parachuted onto the remote South Atlantic territory of Tristan da Cunha, where one of the 221 residents has a suspected case of Hantavirus. Spanish passengers were the first to leave the MV Hondius following its arrival in Tenerife, the largest island in the Spanish archipelago off the West African coast.

Earlier, officials from the Spanish Health Ministry, the World Health Organization and the cruise company Oceanwide Expeditions had said none of the more than 140 people who were then on the Hondius had shown symptoms of the virus. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reiterated that the general public should not be worried about the outbreak. Hantavirus usually spreads when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings, and the disease not easily transmitted between people. Meanwhile, a Spanish woman in the southeastern province of Alicante suspected of being infected tested negative for Hantavirus, Spanish health authorities said Saturday.

The planes arriving in Tenerife were to fly out passengers from more than 20 countries in an evacuation effort that was expected to last until Monday. Video obtained by The Associated Press showed passengers on the tarmac donning similar suits and being sprayed down with disinfectant. After the passenger came down with symptoms, the prime minister said the five would be kept in the hospital "until further orders." Passengers and crew from the U.K.