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Key Takeaways✦ Atlas AI
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Repatriations from MV Hondius commenced.
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Passengers face mandatory quarantine periods.
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Hantavirus risk to public is low.
Atlas AI
Several countries began repatriating their citizens on Sunday, March 10, 2024, from the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius asourceser a hantavirus outbreak that has been linked to three deaths. The vessel was anchored off Granadilla in Tenerife, in Spain’s Canary Islands, as medical teams screened passengers and authorities moved evacuees to waiting flights.
Spanish and French nationals were among the first to leave, while other countries prepared departures for later in the day. Health officials said all passengers on board were asymptomatic.
Spain started the operation by flying 14
Spain started the operation by flying 14 of its citizens to Madrid, where they face mandatory quarantine at a military hospital, according to the report. French citizens were then transported to Paris.
Other flights were being arranged for nationals of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Turkey, Ireland and the United States, with the final evacuation flight expected to leave for Australia on Monday.
The Hondius arrived in the port area before dawn on Sunday, around a month asourceser the first passenger died on board. At about 07:00 local time, medical teams boarded the ship to check those on board for signs of infection.
Passengers wearing white medical face masks were seen on deck and at windows as the evacuation began, and small boats ferried evacuees to shore, where officials in protective suits met them before they were taken by bus to Tenerife’s airport.
Spanish Health Minister Mónica García said the operation was proceeding normally and that no one on board was showing symptoms. The World Health Organization has .
The Reports indicate that a plane bound
The Reports indicate that a plane bound for the Netherlands was expected to take 27 people, including Belgian, Greek, German and Argentine citizens. Spanish authorities enforced security measures around the ship as it approached and remained anchored offshore, with a perimeter set and patrols monitoring the area.
Health authorities said the outbreak had been linked to a landfill site at the southern tip of Argentina, where rodents can carry the Andes strain of hantavirus. Human-to-human transmission is considered rare, and officials have emphasized that the risk of wider contagion to the general population is low.
Intensive care specialists in Tenerife were on standby, and an isolation facility was prepared for any severe cases, though none had emerged during the disembarkation.
Authorities said the pace of departures and quarantine arrangements in destination countries will be closely watched in the coming days as passengers complete the .
