Canary Islands objects to docking of cruise ship

Spain has given the green light for the cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak to dock on the island of Tenerife.

However, officials in the Canary Islands have objected to the move.

DW has the latest.

Stay with us for the latest news on the MV Hondius hantavirus outbreak:
Germany checks Hondius contact for hantavirus
A person linked to a hantavirus case on the cruise ship MV Hondius is being taken to Düsseldorf for precautionary checks.

The University Hospital Düsseldorf confirmed that transfer would be carried out with the Düsseldorf Fire Service on Wednesday evening.

The hospital said the individual is an asymptomatic contact and there is no confirmed infection.

The admission is being carried out purely as a precaution for clinical assessment and infectious disease testing.

The person is being transported by specialized emergency teams from an airport in the Netherlands, with reports indicating arrival via Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.

A plane carrying at least two patients took off from Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, at about 11 a.m.

local time.

An earlier Bild newspaper report said the individual headed to Düsseldorf,  who was not symptomatic, was a woman.

The other two patients were crew members who had already shown signs of illness.

Three people have died in the outbreak on board the MV Hondius — an elderly Dutch couple and a German woman.

A passenger has also tested positive after returning to Switzerland.

WHO says cruise hantavirus risk remains low
The head of the World Health Organization has said a deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship does not resemble the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told AFP on Wednesday the risk to the wider world was low and dismissed comparisons with the early COVID crisis.

The MV Hondius has been at the center of an international alert since the WHO was informed that three passengers had died amid suspected hantavirus infections.

The rare disease is usually spread by rodents, though the Andes strain — now confirmed in several cases — can pass between people through close contact.

Experts have emphasized that such transmission remains uncommon and typically requires prolonged, close exposure.

Andrew Pollard of the University of Oxford told the PA News and DPA news agencies that the risk of wider spread was "essentially zero," noting the virus rarely transmits between people and can be contained through isolation and quarantine measures.

Hantavirus symptoms range from mild to severe
Hantavirus infections typically begin with flu-like symptoms, though severity varies by strain.

Early illness usually includes a high fever lasting three to four days, along with headache, abdominal pain and back pain, while some people may have no symptoms at all.

In Europe and Asia, infections can progress to Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, which may cause low blood pressure and kidney dysfunction, sometimes leading to acute kidney failure.

Fatality rates range from under 1% to about 15%, depending on the strain.

In North and South America, hantaviruses can cause Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, where fluid builds up in the lungs, blood pressure drops and severe breathing difficulties develop.

This form is more dangerous, with fatality rates of roughly 30% to 40%.

Read more about hantavirus here .

Hondius set to dock in Tenerife despite opposition from regional government
A cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak is set to dock within three days at the port of Granadilla on Tenerife.

Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia said the decision was taken despite opposition from the regional government of the Canary Islands.

"A joint health assessment and evacuation mechanism will be implemented to repatriate all passengers.

Unless medically incapacitated, all foreign passengers will be repatriated," Garcia said during a press conference.

She added that the 14 Spaniards aboard the MV Hondius would be transferred to the Gómez Ulla Military Hospital in Madrid.

Suspected hantavirus cases flown from Cape Verde
Three suspected hantavirus cases have been evacuated from Praia and flown to Europe by air ambulance, the AFP news agency reports.

The patients were reportedly transferred from the cruise ship MV Hondius before departing from Cape Verde.

The World Health Organization said two of those evacuated are sick crew members and the third is a contact case in stable condition.

Flight tracking data from Flightradar24 showed one aircraft heading to Amsterdam, with an expected arrival later in the day, while the destination of a second plane was not specified.

It was earlier reported that three patients were on their way to the Netherlands.

German contact due for testing in Düsseldorf
A German national from a hantavirus-hit cruise ship is being transported to Germany for precautionary testing, Germany's Bild newspaper reported.

The report said the woman showed no symptoms.

She appeared to be one of the three people being flown to the Netherlands after exposure on board the MV Hondius.

According to reports, she is a contact of one of three people who died during the suspected outbreak on the expedition cruise ship.

The woman is being taken by special flight to Amsterdam before transfer under high-containment conditions to a university clinic in Düsseldorf.

What hantavirus is and how infection occurs
Hantavirus is a zoonotic disease transmitted from animals — mainly rodents — to humans.

Hantavirus infections typically begin with flu-like symptoms.

While they can sometimes prove fatal, the severity varies depending on the viral strain.

In Europe, person-to-person spread has not been observed, and infection typically occurs through contact with virus particles shed by infected animals.

The natural hosts are mostly mice and rats, which release the virus in their saliva, urine and feces.

People become infected primarily by breathing in contaminated dust — for example, when dried droppings or nesting material are disturbed.

Infection can also happen by ingesting contaminated particles or by touching the eyes or nose after contact with contaminated surfaces.

The virus can survive in the environment for weeks, meaning direct contact with a rodent is not required, although bites can also transmit the infection.

An exception involves the Andes virus, observed in Argentina and Chile, where there have been examples of human-to-human transmission, though this has been rare.

Read more about the symptoms of the virus, and how infection occures .

Three suspected cases sent to Netherlands
Three people believed to have the hantavirus infection have been evacuated from the MV Hondius and are on their way to the Netherlands .

The Dutch Foreign Ministry says the three are nationals of the Netherlands, Britain and Germany.

Two of the evacuees are confirmed to be ill, while a third is suspected of infection, the ministry said.

They are being transferred to specialized hospitals in Europe, though no further details were provided.

Swiss case linked to Hondius hantavirus outbreak
A passenger from the cruise ship MV Hondius has tested positive for hantavirus after returning to Switzerland .

The Swiss Federal Office of Public Health said the man was being treated at University Hospital Zurich after developing symptoms following a trip to South America.

Authorities said the patient returned with his wife at the end of April and sought medical care after falling ill.

They said the hospital was prepared for such cases and that safety for staff and other patients was ensured.

The office added that further cases in Switzerland were unlikely and the risk to the wider public remained low.

The patient's wife has shown no symptoms but has entered precautionary self-isolation.

Andes hantavirus detected in cruise outbreak
South African health authorities have identified the Andes strain of hantavirus in passengers from a cruise ship outbreak.

Officials said Wednesday the cases were confirmed after passengers were evacuated from a vessel stranded off Cape Verde.

The World Health Organization has said the Andes virus is mainly found in South America, especially in Argentina and Chile.

Unlike most hantaviruses, it can spread between people, though transmission typically requires close contact such as sharing a bed or food.

South Africa's Department of Health said the findings were based on tests carried out after two passengers were flown in from the ship.

One, a British man, is in intensive care, while the second case was confirmed posthumously after a woman died in South Africa.

Three passengers have died in the outbreak linked to the ship, which departed from Argentina.

At least four others have fallen ill, with three still on board awaiting evacuation.

The World Health Organization said two of the earliest cases — a Dutch woman who later died and her husband — had recently traveled in Argentina and elsewhere in South America before boarding the vessel.

Canary Islands oppose hantavirus ship docking
The regional government of the Canary Islands is opposed to allowing a luxury cruise ship hit by an outbreak of the deadly hantavirus to dock on ​the archipelago, its leader says.

Fernando Clavijo said he was concerned that safety conditions could not be guaranteed.

"This decision is not based on any technical criteria, nor have we been provided with sufficient information to maintain a message of calm and guarantee the safety of the population in the Canary Islands," Clavijo told the EFE news agency.

He questioned why it is not possible to evacuate passengers to their respective countries of origin from Praia International Airport, which serves the capital of Cape Verde, where the cruise ship is currently anchored.

In a post on X, Clavijo said the Canary Islands "cannot accept decisions taken behind the backs of the Canarian institutions and without sufficient information to the population."
Clavijo also said he had requested an urgent meeting to discuss the matter with ​Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

Clavijo is a member of the ⁠conservative ​People's Party, the ​main opposition to Sanchez's Socialists.

Any decision ultimately rests with Madrid, which supersedes regional authorities.

A hantavirus-hit cruise ship has been anchored off Cape Verde and is now preparing to head to Spain rather than remain there.

Spanish authorities said Tuesday the vessel would be received in the Canary Islands within three to four days.

The MV Hondius has been moored for two days after a hantavirus outbreak was detected on board, leaving three passengers dead and several others suspected to be infected.

The government said the decision was based on international law and humanitarian principles, adding that Cape Verde lacked the capacity to manage the situation.

Spain also noted that the Canary Islands were the nearest location with adequate facilities and that several Spanish citizens were among those on board.

Deadly virus outbreak suspected on cruise ship in Atlantic
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Welcome to our latest updates on developments surrounding the deadly outbreak of hantavirus aboard a cruise ship that is now traveling to Spain.

Three passengers aboard the MV Hondius, which had been sitting off the coast of Cape Verde, have died of the rodent-borne virus.

Stay with us here for the latest developments.