90-Second Read: Passengers evacuated from Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship begin flying home

Passengers evacuated from the Hantavirus-afflicted cruise ship began flying home Sunday aboard military and government planes after the vessel anchored in the Canary Islands. Hours later, a plane that evacuated French passengers landed in Paris, where it was met by emergency vehicles. Three people have died since the outbreak began, and five passengers who left the ship earlier are infected with Hantavirus. 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.

The WHO is recommending that passengers' home countries "have active monitoring and follow-up, which means daily health checks, either at home or in a specialized facility," said the WHO's top epidemic expert, Maria Van Kerkhove. The French Foreign Ministry said earlier that 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 on 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. Authorities have said the disembarking passengers and crew members will be checked for symptoms and forbidden from having any contact with the local population. Hantavirus usually spreads when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings and isn't 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.

Video obtained by the Associated Press showed passengers on the tarmac wearing similar suits and being sprayed down with disinfectant. Passengers were relieved to be on their way home, another WHO official said. The journey to Rotterdam takes about five days, the cruise company said.