WHO says all on hantavirus-hit cruise ship are high-risk contacts

GENEVA: The World Health Organisation said on Saturday that every person aboard the MV Hondius, the cruise ship at the centre of a deadly hantavirus outbreak, should be treated as a high-risk contact and actively monitored for 42 days.

There are nearly 150 people on board the vessel, which is heading towards waters off Tenerife. The outbreak has killed three passengers and prompted international coordination over how those on board will be safely taken off the ship.

WHO epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention director Maria Van Kerkhove said during a social media event, We classify everybody on board as what we call a high-risk contact. She said there was currently nobody on board showing symptoms, but recommended active monitoring and follow-up of all the passengers and crew who disembark for a 42-day period.

Van Kerkhove also said the risk to the wider public, including residents of the Canary Islands, remained low. She said WHO was working with member states, particularly Spain and the Netherlands, the ship’s operator, as well as experts around the world, on the next steps.

According to the WHO official, countries with nationals on the ship were briefed on Saturday about plans for safe and dignified disembarkment. She said anyone who might be showing symptoms would immediately go to a medical evacuation plane and be taken to the Netherlands for care.

For those without symptoms, countries were arranging flights home. Van Kerkhove said some states, including the United States and Canada, were discussing sharing a plane. She added that everyone leaving the ship would need to be monitored for 42 days from their last point of exposure to a confirmed or suspected hantavirus case, saying the clock has already started ticking.

Three deaths and confirmed Andes virus cases

The three passengers who died were identified as a Dutch husband and wife and a German woman. The deaths are among eight confirmed and suspected cases linked to the outbreak.

WHO said the Andes virus, the only hantavirus type known to spread from person to person, has been confirmed among the six cases that tested positive, heightening concern internationally.

The Dutch-flagged ship was expected to reach waters off Tenerife at dawn on Sunday. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was also due in the archipelago to help coordinate the evacuation of around 150 people on board.

WHO chief addresses Tenerife residents

In an open letter to the people of Tenerife, Tedros sought to reassure residents about the arrival of the ship offshore.

"I need you to hear me clearly: this is not another Covid,"he wrote. "The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low."

Fears had grown in the Canary Islands over the ship’s arrival. Regional authorities refused to allow the vessel to dock and decided it would remain offshore while passengers were screened and evacuated.

The WHO chief’s letter and the agency’s latest guidance came as international health authorities continued to manage the response to the outbreak, with the focus on evacuation, screening and post-disembarkation monitoring of all passengers and crew.