Cruise ship hit by hantavirus outbreak arrives in the Netherlands

The MV Hondius cruise ship, where a hantavirus outbreak occurred, has arrived in Rotterdam, Netherlands, with 25 crew members and 2 medical personnel on board following an evacuation. Those on the ship will disembark after a challenging process lasting more than two weeks and will be immediately placed under quarantine. The body of a German woman who passed away during the voyage is also on board.

The ship's operator, Oceanwide Expedition, stated that those on board are not showing symptoms of the disease and noted that medical personnel are closely monitoring the crew. Oceanwide Expedition indicated that the ship will undergo cleaning and disinfection procedures.

Authorities announced that some individuals will stay in quarantine facilities at the port, while others will self-isolate in their homes. Officials stated that quarantine facilities have been set up for some of the non-Dutch crew members, adding that it is not yet clear whether these individuals will spend the entire recommended 42-day quarantine period there.

3 PASSENGERS HAD DIED ON THE SHIP

On the Dutch-flagged luxury cruise ship MV Hondius, which set sail from Argentina on April 1 with more than 140 passengers and crew, mostly British, American, and Spanish, a 70-year-old Dutch man fell ill on April 6 with complaints of fever, headache, and mild diarrhea. The man, who began experiencing respiratory distress in the following days, passed away on the ship on April 11. The Dutch man's wife fell ill at the airport on April 26 while trying to board another flight to return to her country and passed away in a hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she had been taken. As the ship was sailing toward the Cape Verde Islands off the west coast of Africa, a German female passenger also fell ill on the ship on April 28 and passed away on May 2, about a month after the first passenger fell ill. This marked the 3rd death.

The ship, which was stranded off the coast of Cape Verde due to the outbreak, had docked in Tenerife in the Canary Islands with the permission of Spain. Spanish authorities had evacuated more than 120 people from the ship. Those evacuated were sent to their home countries via organized flights.

News Source: İHA