Countries across Europe and North America are preparing to evacuate citizens from the luxury cruise ship MV Hondius after a deadly hantavirus outbreak left three people dead and several others ill, while health authorities stressed that the public risk remains low.
The ship is expected to anchor near Tenerife early Sunday after departing from the coast of Cape Verde on Wednesday under a coordinated evacuation plan requested by the World Health Organization and the European Union.
The outbreak has resulted in eight reported illnesses, including six confirmed hantavirus cases and two suspected infections, according to the WHO.
The fatalities included a Dutch couple and a German national.
Passengers will be transferred ashore at the industrial port of Granadilla through a secured corridor before being repatriated directly to their home countries.
Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands are sending aircraft to evacuate their nationals from the ship, while the European Union is dispatching two additional planes for other European passengers.
Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said the United States and the United Kingdom were also arranging transport and contingency plans for non-European Union citizens.
British passengers and crew members will be taken to a hospital in northwest England for an isolation period after arrival, while American passengers are expected to be transported to Nebraska for quarantine and testing.
Spanish authorities said all passengers and 17 crew members would be evacuated, while 30 crew members would remain onboard as the vessel continues to the Netherlands for disinfection procedures.
Health officials added that luggage and the body of one deceased passenger would remain on the ship during the process.
The evacuation is expected to be completed before worsening sea conditions forecast for later in the month.
The outbreak has also prompted scrutiny of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with public health experts criticizing what they described as a limited response compared with previous international disease outbreaks.
The WHO has led much of the international coordination after the outbreak was reported on May 2.
The CDC activated its emergency operations center on Thursday at its lowest response level and later issued a health alert to U.S. doctors regarding potential imported cases.
At least four U.S. states are monitoring residents who had been aboard the ship, though officials said no monitored individuals were showing symptoms.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the current hantavirus threat remained limited and urged the public not to compare the outbreak to the COVID-19 pandemic.