90-Second Read: The Hantavirus Cruise Has Been Evacuated

Infamous cruise ship the MV Hondius, now known as the site of a closely-watched Hantavirus outbreak, is anchored just outside the Spanish island of Tenerife. The ship, which is now famous as the site of an outbreak of Hantavirus, a potentially fatal respiratory illness, has been anchored off the Spanish island of Tenerife, where its passengers will disembark. Since then, six confirmed cases of Hantavirus and two suspected cases have been linked to the outbreak on the ship. The passengers of cruise ship MV Hondius are finally evacuating the vessel, but their journey isn't over yet. Then an elderly German passenger also died aboard the ship shortly before reaching Cape Verde.

The news has been met with fear by a world still reeling from the pandemic, as Hantavirus, a viral disease transmitted to humans by rodents that causes serious infections of the lungs or kidneys, does not have a specific vaccine, treatment, or cure. Disembarkation began under the supervision of the World Health Organization, which said it considered all those on the Hondius "high-risk contacts" to be actively monitored for 42 days. It is true that human-to-human contagion occurs, but the difference with Covid is that Hantavirus does not spread as fast. But on April 11, 70-year-old Dutch passenger Leo Schilperoord died following a brief illness. His wife, Mirjam, who had traveled to South Africa with his body, died soon after.

The voyage of the Hondius began in Argentina with 149 passengers, all set to tour the Atlantic ocean. The illness, which occurs through contact with infected animals or their excrement and manifests itself through sudden fever, headache and severe lung infections, had local authorities in the Canary Islands so concerned that they had initially refused to allow the ship to dock. Health teams have gone on board to assess the passengers and what they tell us is that they all continue to be asymptomatic," WHO said, but all will face quarantines in their home countries. Those travelers are not the only people who remain isolated. Four Italians are in quarantine though they were not on the ship, a precautionary measure as they were on a flight that the wife of.

After the Spanish central government issued an executive order, they were forced to comply. Ditto for Spaniards, Germans, Americans, and Australians, who will be the last to disembark: there are 23 nationalities on board.