WHO rules out wider hantavirus outbreak on MV Hondius as ship sails for Rotterdam
Three fatalities have been confirmed globally following the evacuation of the luxury cruise vessel, with nine cases officially identified and two others suspected.
The World Health Organization has stated there is currently no sign of a larger hantavirus outbreak following the evacuation of the MV Hondius cruise ship. However, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has cautioned that the situation remains fluid and could evolve, noting that the virus's long incubation period means new cases may emerge in the coming weeks.
While the agency reports no immediate signs of a wider spread, three people have died after travelling on the vessel. Nine cases have been confirmed globally, with two others currently suspected. The organisation's work to contain the outbreak is described as unfinished, despite the low risk of a major pandemic associated with the Andes strain of hantavirus.
The Dutch-flagged vessel is currently sailing to the port of Rotterdam and is provisionally expected to arrive on the evening of 17 May. As of Monday evening, 27 people remained on board, comprising 25 crew members and two medical staff. This group includes 17 individuals from the Philippines, four from the Netherlands, four from Ukraine, one from Russia, and one from Poland.
In the Netherlands, twelve employees at a hospital in Nijmegen have been placed in quarantine after potential exposure while treating an evacuated passenger. This precautionary measure was taken following a breach of strict protocols during the handling of blood and urine samples. Meanwhile, seventeen Filipino crew members arrived in the Netherlands on Tuesday morning.
International health officials continue to monitor developments across several nations. Spain confirmed that one of 14 evacuees quarantining in Madrid has tested positive, presenting with low-grade fever and mild respiratory symptoms but remaining in stable condition. In France, a woman with deteriorating health is isolating in Paris, while Italy is taking biological samples from a symptomatic man who travelled on the same flight as a woman who later died.
Two British nationals with confirmed cases are being treated in the Netherlands and South Africa. The first fatality was a 70-year-old Dutch man who died on board in April before testing positive, followed by his wife in Johannesburg and a German woman who died on the ship in May. The vessel departed from Ushuaia in Argentina on 1 April carrying 147 passengers and crew from 23 countries.
