TENERIFE, Spain — The MV Hondius cruise vessel, carrying over 140 individuals during a hantavirus outbreak, has docked at Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands off West Africa’s coast, where passengers and select crew members will leave the ship.
According to the World Health Organization, Spanish officials, and cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions, no one currently aboard the vessel is displaying virus symptoms. The outbreak has claimed three lives, while five passengers who previously departed the ship have tested positive for hantavirus, a potentially fatal illness.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will oversee the ship’s evacuation alongside Spain’s health and interior ministers. Officials have confirmed that disembarking passengers and crew will remain isolated from local residents and will only leave the vessel when evacuation aircraft are prepared to transport them to their final destinations.
