A cruise ship grappling with a deadly hantavirus outbreak is set to dock in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on Monday morning.
The MV Hondius has been navigating the seas for the past six days, departing from the Canary Islands. There, the remaining passengers were safely disembarked by teams clad in full protective gear. These passengers have since been flown to over 20 different countries, where they have entered quarantine protocols.
The World Health Organization reports that the outbreak on the ship has resulted in 11 cases, with nine confirmed incidences of the virus. Tragically, three passengers have died, including a Dutch couple believed to have contracted the virus during their visit to South America.
Making its way from Tenerife along the African and European coasts, the vessel carries 25 crew members and two medical staff. Oceanwide Expeditions, the ship’s operator, assures that no one on board is currently displaying any symptoms of the virus.
The vessel has made the journey from Tenerife up the coast of Africa and Europe with 25 crew members and two medical personnel. According to the ship operator Oceanwide Expeditions, no one on board is experiencing any symptoms.
Crew members who are unable to return home will be quarantined in the Netherlands, the Dutch health ministry said last week. Some two dozen passengers and crew are already in quarantine in the Netherlands, after arriving in the country on a series of flights over the previous two weeks.
The Public Health Agency of Canada said Sunday that one of the four Canadians in isolation after leaving the ship had tested positive. The case was not yet reflected in the WHO data.
Eighteen Americans are currently under observation at specialized healthcare facilities in the United States designed to treat people with dangerous infectious diseases.
Dr. Bonnie Henry, the public health officer for the province of British Columbia, said Saturday the person had received a “presumptive positive” but further testing would be conducted at the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg.
After everyone on board has disembarked, the ship will be decontaminated based on Dutch public health guidelines. “Personal protective measures are being taken to ensure that the cleaners do not need to quarantine after the cleaning,” the health ministry said in a letter to the Dutch parliament last week.
Public health officials will inspect the vessel before it is allowed to sail again. The hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius is the first known case on a cruise ship.
The Dutch company that owns the cruise ship said it doesn’t foresee any changes to its operations. It has an Arctic cruise setting sail from Keflavik, Iceland, on May 29.
France’s Pasteur Institute said on Saturday it has fully sequenced the Andes virus detected in a French passenger from the MV Hondius cruise ship and found that it matched viruses already known in South America, with no evidence so far of new characteristics that would make it more transmissible or more dangerous.