WHO chief says hantavirus evacuation does not mean outbreak response is over

With three deaths already linked to a hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that efforts to contain the virus were still unfinished as authorities carried out evacuations from the stricken cruise ship.

The vessel has triggered international concern after the rare virus killed three passengers and left a French woman in critical condition. There is no vaccine against hantavirus and no specific treatment, raising the stakes as health officials race to manage the fallout.

Even so, authorities have emphasized that the wider public health threat remains low and have pushed back against comparisons with the early days of the Covid-19 crisis.

“There is no sign that we are seeing the start of a larger outbreak,” Dr Tedros said at a joint news conference in Madrid with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez after supervising the evacuation in Spain’s Canary Islands.

Pedro Sanchez and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a press conference in Madrid

Among those still living, all either passengers or crew members, seven infections have been confirmed and an eighth case is considered “probable”, according to an AFP count based on official figures.

Those affected are from the United States, Britain, France, Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

French doctor Xavier Lescure said one of the five French passengers airlifted from the ship was in intensive care and on a ventilator with what he described as a “severe” form of the disease.

He said the woman was over 65 and had underlying health conditions, but gave no further details during a press conference at the health ministry.

More than 120 passengers and crew from the MV Hondius were flown out of Spain’s Canary Islands on Sunday and yesterday, with governments adopting differing health protocols for those returning home.

More than 120 passengers and crew on the MV Hondius were flown out from the Canary Islands

Most countries have aligned themselves with WHO guidance, which calls for a 42-day quarantine and continuous monitoring of high-risk contacts because the incubation period can last as long as six weeks.

‘Heed the guidance’

Dutch authorities said the 26 passengers who arrived on Sunday on the first repatriation flight from the Canary Island of Tenerife to the Netherlands had all tested negative.

The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment said all 26 passengers underwent “thorough medical screening” and, despite the negative results, would still be required to quarantine.

Two additional repatriation flights later touched down in the Netherlands, carrying another 28 evacuees who will likewise enter isolation.

Dr Tedros said he hoped governments would “follow the advice and recommendations we are making”, while recognizing that each country could set its own health measures.

French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking at a summit in Kenya, said his government had the situation “under control” and urged strong European coordination with the World Health Organization.

The crisis aboard the MV Hondius also created diplomatic tensions, as governments negotiated over which country would accept the ship and provide care for those on board.

Cape Verde declined to receive the vessel, which stayed anchored off the capital, Praia, after three people were flown to Europe for treatment last week.

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Spain allowed the ship to anchor off the Canary Islands so passengers and crew could be evacuated on Sunday and yesterday, though the regional government of the Atlantic archipelago strongly objected to the decision.

Defending the move, Mr Sanchez said the “world does not need more selfishness or more fear. What it needs are countries that show solidarity and want to step forward”.

The MV Hondius departed Tenerife yesterday with only a skeleton crew on board and is due to be disinfected when it reaches the Netherlands on Sunday.

Hantavirus is transmitted through the urine, faeces and saliva of infected rodents and is endemic in Argentina, where the MV Hondius began its Atlantic voyage to Cape Verde on 1 April.