Hantavirus-hit cruise ship reaches Spanish Port of Tenerife as evacuation begins

A cruise ship affected by a hantavirus outbreak arrived off Spain’s Tenerife Island, where passengers and crew are set to disembark and return to their home countries, media reports said early Sunday.

The MV Hondius reached waters near Granadilla Port early Sunday at around 5.30 am local time (0430GMT), with authorities preparing a large-scale medical and evacuation operation, according to EFE News Agency.

Health officials said six passengers have confirmed hantavirus infections and two others are suspected cases, with three fatalities reported, including two on board.

*** There are a total of 150 people on board, including 38 from the Philippines (all crew), 23 from the UK, 17 from the US, 14 from Spain, 11 from the Netherlands, eight from Germany, and five each from France and Ukraine.

*** The rest include four each from Canada and Australia, three from Türkiye, two each from India, Belgium, and Ireland, and one each from Greece, Poland, Portugal, Montenegro, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, Argentina, and Guatemala.

Passengers, all currently asymptomatic, will be transferred in small groups by boats to shore for medical screening before boarding repatriation flights.

“They will be first assessed… checked to see if they have symptoms or not,” officials said, adding that an epidemiological questionnaire will be conducted.

Authorities said the ship will remain anchored offshore and will not dock, with passengers transported in groups of five before being taken by buses to the airport located about 6 miles away.

Spanish nationals are expected to be among the first evacuated, with some transferred to a military hospital in Madrid for quarantine lasting between one and two weeks, depending on medical evaluations.

Seventeen US passengers will be flown to the US and monitored at a specialized quarantine unit in Nebraska.

An American oncologist on board, Dr. Stephen Kornfeld, stepped in to assist passengers after the ship’s doctor became infected, describing the situation as a rapidly escalating medical crisis, according to ABC News.

Kornfeld said one patient died within 24 hours of his involvement, while others, including the ship’s doctor and a staff member, showed worsening symptoms as the outbreak unfolded.

He noted that multiple infected individuals were being treated in different countries, including the Netherlands, South Africa, and Switzerland, after disembarking earlier in the voyage.

Despite the outbreak, no US passengers had tested positive for the virus as of Saturday, according to US health authorities.

Kornfeld said passengers worked together to manage the situation, describing a strong sense of cooperation among those on board during the crisis.

US officials said passengers arriving in Nebraska will be evaluated at the National Quarantine Unit, although mandatory quarantine is not expected.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has classified the outbreak as a Level 3 emergency response, the agency’s lowest emergency activation level.

The outbreak, involving the Andes strain of hantavirus, has resulted in five confirmed cases, including three deaths, according to World Health Organization (WHO) officials.

Scientists confirmed the outbreak was caused by the rare Andes variant of hantavirus, the only known strain capable of human-to-human transmission, usually through close contact.

The WHO said two passengers who later died had traveled through Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay before boarding the ship.

CDC officials said passengers will be monitored for about six weeks, reflecting the incubation period of the virus, while health authorities in several US states are also tracking travelers who had already left the vessel before the outbreak was confirmed.