Hantavirus Outbreak: m/v Hondius Set to Land in Tenerife on Sunday for Emergency Quarantine

The m/v Hondius, the ship at the center of the Hantavirus outbreak, is scheduled to land at Granadilla, Tenerife in the Canary Islands on Sunday.

The ship currently has 90 guests on board. At its peak, there were 120 guests, including six people who joined the ship at Tristan da Cunha on April 15. Thirty guests, including one deceased passenger, disembarked at Saint Helena on April 24.

Also on board are medical teams from both the Dutch Government and the World Health Organization (WHO), who are monitoring the situation. The WHO recently confirmed that the outbreak was caused by the Andes virus, the only hantavirus strain known to be capable of limited human-to-human transmission.

Once the ship reaches Tenerife on Sunday, the plan is for guests to be screened and quarantined by the WHO and the Spanish government. Oceanwide said on Friday that once the ship lands and guests disembark, the company will not be involved in the medical testing or onward travel procedures from there.

Spain’s Health Minister Monica Garcia said on Thursday that a “completely isolated, cordoned-off area” has been established at the Port of Granadilla for the passengers. It is also coordinating with other governments to ensure passengers are moved directly from the ship to chartered medical flights.

One of those governments is the U.S. government, which is looking after 17 Americans currently onboard, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC says it is already monitoring Americans who have disembarked at St. Helena, including those who have gone home to Georgia, California, and Arizona. The plan is for the CDC to sending specialized aircraft to Tenerife to evacuate the American citizens on Sunday.

Hantavirus Infections

Aside from the deaths, there are nine people currently “suspected” of having the virus, along with hundreds of others who are being monitored either because they were onboard Hondius or came into close contact with someone who was onboard.

Of the nine, three are passengers and one is a crew member who are isolated onboard Hondius as it transits to Tenerife. All are being treated by doctors and medical teams onboard.

There is also another crew member who was evacuated to the Netherlands, along with three other passengers (one Swiss and two Singaporean) who disembarked at St. Helena, flew home, and are now in isolation.

The most high-profile case right now is a British national who is now in Tristan da Cunha being monitored by local health officials there. The infected person was not onboard Hondius, but is suspected of coming into contact with one of the passengers when the ship was docked there on April 15.