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The Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is expected in the Spanish island of Tenerife to assist in coordinating the evacuation of passengers affected by the hantavirus outbreak, Spanish ministry sources said on Friday.
Tedros will join Spain’s health and interior ministers at a command post on Saturday “to ensure coordination between administrations, health control, and the application of the planned surveillance and response protocols”, the sources stated.
Three passengers aboard the MV Hondius — a Dutch couple and a German woman — have died, while several others have fallen ill from the rare disease, which is commonly spread by rodents.
Health authorities confirmed that the Andes virus, the only hantavirus strain capable of spreading between humans, was detected among positive cases, raising international concern.
The Dutch-flagged cruise ship, carrying about 150 people, is expected to arrive at Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands on Sunday. Authorities plan to transport passengers to their home countries on special flights.
Earlier on Friday, the WHO revealed that the outbreak posed little risk to the wider public.
“This is a dangerous virus, but only to the person who’s really infected, and the risk to the general population remains absolutely low,” WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told reporters.
He added that evidence from the MV Hondius suggested limited human-to-human transmission, noting that some cabin mates of infected passengers had not contracted the virus.
“The virus is not that contagious that it easily jumps from person to person,” he said.
The WHO confirmed five cases and three suspected infections on Friday, adding that there were no remaining suspected cases aboard the ship.
A KLM flight attendant who came into contact with an infected passenger and later developed mild symptoms tested negative for hantavirus, according to the WHO.
The passenger involved — the wife of the first victim — briefly boarded a Johannesburg-to-Netherlands flight on April 25 before officials removed her from the aircraft. She died the next day in a Johannesburg hospital.
Lindmeier described the negative test result as encouraging, saying it showed that close contact with an infected person did not necessarily lead to transmission.
Spanish authorities also disclosed that a woman from eastern Spain who travelled on the same flight was undergoing testing after developing symptoms. She remains isolated in hospital, according to health secretary Javier Padilla.
Padilla described the case as “pretty unlikely”, explaining that the woman had been seated “two rows behind the person who died with hantavirus”.
Spanish interior ministry officials also said a South African woman who had travelled on the same flight remained symptom-free after spending a week in Barcelona before returning home.
The MV Hondius departed Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1 for a transatlantic cruise to Cape Verde.
Authorities evacuated three suspected cases, including two crew members who later tested positive, from Cape Verde to the Netherlands. German officials confirmed on Friday that the third person tested negative but would continue under medical observation.
Two Dutch healthcare experts, including a representative from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and a WHO official, are now aboard the ship conducting risk assessments.
YouTuber Kasem Ibn Hattuta, a passenger on the cruise, said travellers felt reassured after medical experts boarded the vessel.
“We finally left Cape Verde which was a relief for everyone on board, specially knowing that our sick colleagues are finally getting the medical care they need,” he said in a statement.
He added that passengers remained calm and optimistic despite the situation.
“People are smiling and taking the situation calmly,” he said.
According to him, passengers were wearing masks indoors and observing physical distancing measures.
Britain and the United States have announced plans for repatriation flights.
Spanish authorities said the ship would remain offshore at Tenerife and would not dock directly at the port.
Officials plan to move passengers ashore on smaller boats before transporting them by bus to the airport.
The Canarian regional government stated that the evacuation must take place between Sunday and Monday because of expected adverse weather conditions later in the week.
Dockworkers in Tenerife staged protests on Friday against the ship’s arrival.
The cruise ship had previously stopped at several remote British islands in the South Atlantic.
British health authorities confirmed a suspected case on Tristan da Cunha, regarded as one of the world’s most isolated communities, with a population of about 220 people.
