Hantavirus-hit cruise ship heads to Spain after three people evacuated

A luxury cruise ship affected by a hantavirus outbreak and stranded since Sunday off Cape Verde has departed for Spain on Wednesday, according to a Reuters witness. The MV Hondius, which had nearly 150 passengers aboard, is expected to reach Spain’s Tenerife in the Canary Islands in about three days. Spain’s Health Minister Monica Garcia confirmed that the remaining passengers on the ship are not showing any symptoms of the virus. Once the ship arrives in Tenerife, all non-Spanish citizens will be sent back to their home countries if they remain healthy, Garcia stated during a press conference in Madrid. In contrast, the 14 Spanish passengers will undergo quarantine at a military hospital in Madrid. The length of their quarantine will vary based on when they may have been exposed to the virus, which has an incubation period of 45 days. The outbreak has resulted in the deaths of three individuals: a Dutch couple and a German national. Eight people are suspected of having contracted the virus, including a Swiss citizen who is currently being treated in Zurich; three cases have been confirmed through laboratory tests, according to the World Health Organization. Argentina’s health ministry plans to conduct rodent trapping and analysis in Ushuaia, the city where the cruise ship originated. Officials are working to trace the itinerary of the Dutch travelers who visited Argentina and Chile before showing symptoms of hantavirus on the cruise. There have been no reported cases linked to this outbreak in Argentina.