live Australia confirms evacuation of nationals from hantavirus-hit cruise ship; U.S. passengers isolated after outbreak

Two U.S. passengers isolated after hantavirus outbreak

Reuters

One of 17 Americans being repatriated from the hantavirus-hit luxury cruise ship MV Hondius has tested mildly positive for the Andes strain of the virus, while a second passenger is showing mild symptoms, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said on Sunday.

All 17 U.S. citizens are being airlifted back to the United States, with the two symptomatic passengers travelling in the aircraft’s biocontainment units. The second passenger has not yet been confirmed as infected.

The U.S. State Department said passengers would be taken to the ASPR Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, while the passenger with mild symptoms will be transferred to a second specialist treatment centre.

HHS said all passengers would undergo clinical assessments on arrival and receive care according to their condition.

Australia confirms evacuation of nationals from hantavirus-hit cruise ship

Reuters

Australia has said it will repatriate its citizens from the Dutch-flagged cruise ship MV Hondius following an outbreak of a deadly strain of hantavirus, with passengers to be placed in quarantine on arrival.

Environment Minister Murray Watt told ABC News that Australia had agreed to bring back “a small number of Australians” as well as one additional person of another nationality requiring medical treatment. The identity of the second individual was not disclosed.

It remains unclear whether any of those being repatriated are currently showing symptoms of the virus. Australia’s foreign ministry has not yet provided further details.

Repatriation efforts

Spain and France have already evacuated their citizens from the vessel, which is anchored near Tenerife in the Canary Islands, while additional flights organised by Canada, the Netherlands, Türkiye, the UK, Ireland and the United States are expected to have departed by Sunday night local time.

Spain’s health minister said the final two evacuation flights (from Australia and the Netherlands) are scheduled to leave on Monday afternoon local time.

New Zealand said it was in ongoing talks with international partners over repatriation options for one national still aboard the ship. Health officials said domestic services were prepared to support quarantine arrangements if required.

WHO response

The World Health Organization said on Friday (8 May) that eight former passengers have fallen ill, six of them confirmed infections, with three deaths recorded.

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The WHO has recommended a 42-day quarantine period for all passengers, although global health experts have urged calm, stressing the virus is significantly less contagious than COVID-19 and presents limited risk to the wider public.

The outbreak is believed to have first been identified on 2 May in Johannesburg, where a British man developed severe symptoms and was treated in intensive care following contact with another passenger who had earlier died.

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The MV Hondius left Cape Verde on Wednesday (6 May) after the outbreak was detected, having travelled from southern Argentina across the South Atlantic before reaching the island nation.