The head of the World Health Organization arrived in Spain on Saturday to oversee the evacuation of more than 140 passengers and crew from a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship headed to the Canary Islands. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he would be heading to the Spanish island of Tenerife to "oversee safe disembarkation of the passengers, crew members and health experts".
The Dutch-flagged ship, the MV Hondius, is expected to arrive in Tenerife in the early hours of Sunday. At this point, nobody on board the Hondius is showing symptoms of the virus. "WHO continues to actively monitor the situation, coordinate support and next steps and will keep Member States and the public updated accordingly. So far, the risk for the population of Canary Islands and globally remains low," Tedros posted on X.
Spain's Health Minister Monica Garcia said she would be heading to Tenerife with Tedros and Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska to coordinate the disembarkation. The head of Spain's emergency services, Virginia Barcones, has said passengers will be taken to a "completely isolated, cordoned-off area" once they disembark.
Three people have died since the outbreak, and five passengers who left the ship are infected with hantavirus. Both the U.S. and the U.K. have agreed to send planes to evacuate their citizens from the cruise ship.
Hantavirus is usually spread by the inhalation of contaminated rodent droppings and isn't easily transmitted between people. However, the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases. Symptoms usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure.
