Cruise Ship Hantavirus Outbreak Triggers Global Evacuations And Quarantines

The outbreak has prompted a multinational evacuation effort involving Australia, the United States, Spain, France, the Netherlands and several other countries, as health officials work to contain a virus that has already claimed three lives.

According to the World Health Organization, eight people who had been aboard the vessel have fallen ill, with six confirmed cases of hantavirus infection. Those who died include a Dutch couple and a German national.

Australian Environment Minister Murray Watt said four Australians, along with one resident of Tenerife and one resident of New Zealand, would be repatriated on the Australian flight.

“This is being done via an Australian government-supported flight, and we expect those people to return to Australia soon,” Watt told reporters in Canberra.

He added that quarantine arrangements were still being finalized in coordination with Australian states and territories. Officials have not disclosed whether any of the passengers being flown to Australia are symptomatic or have tested positive for the virus. 

New Zealand’s Director of Public Health, Corina Grey, said the country’s health services were prepared to support quarantine measures if necessary.

The United States has also begun evacuating its citizens from the ship. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said one of the 17 Americans being repatriated tested mildly positive for the Andes strain of hantavirus, while another passenger is experiencing mild symptoms but has not yet been confirmed as infected.

Both symptomatic passengers are being transported in specialized biocontainment units aboard the evacuation aircraft. The passengers will be taken to high-level pathogen treatment facilities in the United States, including the ASPR Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

Health officials said all evacuees would undergo clinical assessment upon arrival and receive treatment based on their medical condition.

The MV Hondius is currently anchored near Tenerife, the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands. Spain and France have already completed evacuations of their citizens, while Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Ireland are also organizing repatriation flights.

Spain’s health minister said the final evacuation flights, including those from Australia and the Netherlands, were expected to depart Monday afternoon local time.

The outbreak has raised international concern because the Andes strain of hantavirus is one of the few hantaviruses known to spread from person to person, though experts stress transmission remains rare and generally requires close contact.

Hantaviruses are typically spread through exposure to infected rodents or their droppings. The Andes strain can cause severe respiratory illness and may be fatal in up to 50% of cases, according to the WHO.

Despite the seriousness of the illness, health authorities have urged calm and emphasized that the virus is far less contagious than COVID-19 and poses a relatively low public health risk.

The WHO has recommended a 42-day quarantine period for all passengers aboard the ship.

The outbreak was first detected on May 2 in Johannesburg after a British passenger fell ill, 21 days after another traveler had died. The vessel had been sailing from the southern tip of Argentina across the South Atlantic toward the Cape Verde islands before departing for Spain from the coast of Cape Verde after the outbreak was identified.