Hantavirus: WHO chief to travel to Spain's Canary Islands to coordinate cruise ship passengers' evacuation

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will travel to Tenerife, the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands, off West Africa, to coordinate the evacuation of passengers from a cruise ship affected by the hantavirus, Irish public broadcaster RTE reported Friday, citing Interior Ministry sources.

Tedros will join Spanish health and interior ministers at a command post on the island “to ensure coordination between administrations, health control, and the application of the planned surveillance and response protocols.”

Regional authorities said the evacuation must take place between Sunday and Monday due to worsening weather conditions in the Canary Islands.

"The only window of opportunity we have to carry out this operation is around 12 o'clock on Sunday and until conditions change on Monday," regional government spokesman Alfonso Cabello was quoted by the RTE.

He cited wind and swell conditions as the reason for the ship's departure and the possibility of no further operations until the end of May.

The vessel is expected to arrive off Tenerife early Sunday and anchor offshore, with passengers transferred to smaller boats before being taken to the airport for repatriation flights.

The operation involves nearly 150 passengers and crew from 23 different countries, according to authorities.

The situation has sparked international concern, with three deaths reported on board since the ship left Argentina in April.

Earlier evacuations took place off Cape Verde, while EU countries are expected to coordinate repatriations of their nationals once passengers disembark.

Two new suspected hantavirus cases have been reported in Spain and Tristan da Cunha, both associated with the same outbreak cluster, though the WHO has repeatedly stated that the risk to the general public is low.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has classified the hantavirus outbreak as a "Level 3" emergency response, the lowest level of emergency activation, ABC News reported Thursday.

The outbreak, involving the Andes strain of hantavirus, has so far resulted in five confirmed cases, including three deaths, among passengers connected to the voyage, according to WHO officials.

The MV Hondius, carrying approximately 150 passengers and crew from 23 nationalities, departed from Argentina and crossed the Atlantic before reporting a cluster of respiratory illnesses while sailing off Cape Verde.