A cruise ship infected by a deadly hantavirus outbreak, in which three people were reported to have died, is heading to Spain after the government had given the green light to the move, Madrid said on Wednesday.
The MV Hondius, carrying more than 100 people, is sailing towards the Spanish island of Tenerife and is expected to dock there within three to four days, Spain’s Health Minister Monica Garcia told a press conference, citing that all non-Spanish nationals would be repatriated, providing they do not show any serious symptoms.
The minister went on to confirm that 14 of the total passengers onboard the ship are Spaniards, all of whom would be subject to isolation in hospital for an undetermined period of time, depending on their condition, she added.
The luxury cruise ship had set off from southern Argentina in late March, before it was hit by the deadly outbreak as it was on its way to the West African island of Cape Verde, while the World Health Organization has thus far maintained that the virus poses a minimal risk to public health.
Hantavirus spreads through contact with infected rodents, but human to human transmission is by and large rare.
