The ship on which the hantavirus outbreak broke out has reached its final destination in Europe
The MV Hondius cruise ship, at the center of an outbreak of hantavirus infections that has sparked international concern, docked in the Dutch port of Rotterdam on Monday, where authorities were quarantining the last 27 passengers to disembark and planning to cremate a deceased German citizen, reports Reuters.
About 150 passengers and crew from 23 countries were on board the Dutch-flagged ship when several cases of severe respiratory illness were first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) on May 2.
Three people died. The bodies of two Dutch nationals who were a couple have been repatriated, while a German victim is to be cremated in the Netherlands and the ashes sent home.
The WHO stated that eight confirmed and two probable cases of hantavirus infection were registered on board the ship, the balance including the three deceased persons.
Hantavirus is mainly spread by rodents, but in rare cases it can be transmitted between humans after close and prolonged contact. The incubation period can last about six weeks.
There is no specific treatment for the infection.
WHO: Hantavirus not a major threat to public health
The World Health Organization stressed that the wider threat to public health remains low and that there is no comparison to the COVID-19 epidemic.
Tjalling Leenstra, head of the Dutch coordinating center for communicable disease control at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), said there was “no risk to Rotterdam and no risk to that”.
All exposed people are being monitored and quarantined, he added.
The ship, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, was stranded earlier this month off Cape Verde, its final destination, after the African country's authorities barred the remaining passengers from disembarking.
The vessel “MV Hondius” arrived in Rotterdam after a stop in the Canary Islands
WHO and the EU asked Spain to manage the evacuation to the Canary Islands, after which the ship left for Rotterdam with a reduced crew of 25 and two additional medical personnel.
Yvonne van Duijnhoven, director of the municipal health service GGD Rotterdam-Rijnmond, said two Dutch crew members were going home for quarantine and the others, mainly Filipinos, were to be quarantined in mobile units in the Rotterdam area.
The RIVM specified that the disinfection of the ship by a specialized company could take up to a week.
RIVM spokesman Coen Berends said the specialists “wear protective equipment and clean all surfaces on the ship, including the ventilation systems, and each cabin is assessed individually”. The official mentioned that, in the case of cabins of people tested positive, they will be considered high-risk areas.
The outbreak involves the so-called Andes virus, a strain that has circulated in Argentina and Chile for decades.
Other crew members, passengers and people in contact with them have also been quarantined in several other countries.
