The cruise ship MV Hondius, affected by a hantavirus outbreak, arrived in the Dutch port of Rotterdam for disinfection, bringing to an end a journey that had triggered concern among international health authorities. The vessel reached Rotterdam with 25 crew members and two medical staff on board, after passengers had disembarked elsewhere as part of evacuation and repatriation procedures. Dutch authorities prepared quarantine arrangements for those who remained on the ship, including facilities for non-Dutch crew members, although it was still unclear whether they would stay there for the entire recommended 42-day quarantine period.
The Dutch-flagged luxury cruise ship had carried 150 passengers and crew from 23 countries when a cluster of severe respiratory illnesses among passengers was first reported to the World Health Organization on May 2. Since the outbreak began, three people have died, including a Dutch couple and a German citizen. The vessel, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, had been stuck near Cape Verde earlier this month after authorities did not allow passengers to disembark because of the outbreak.
The WHO and the European Union asked Spain to manage the evacuation through the Canary Islands, after which the ship continued toward Rotterdam with its core crew and medical personnel. In Spain, all passengers and part of the crew were evacuated to Tenerife between the previous week and Monday for urgent repatriation to their countries of origin. The cruise ship had arrived on the Spanish island with 147 people of 23 nationalities, before departing with 25 crew members and two medical workers.
Health measures are continuing in several countries. Nine British citizens linked to MV Hondius and possibly exposed to hantavirus, but without symptoms of infection, were expected to return to the United Kingdom from Saint Helena and Ascension Island. After arrival, they were to be placed at Arrowe Park Hospital in Upton, Merseyside, while the UK Health Security Agency said it was working with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and British overseas territories to monitor patients completing self-isolation in the UK.
In Spain, women hospitalized in Barcelona and Alicante after close contact with one of the hantavirus victims were allowed to receive visitors after their latest PCR tests came back negative. If the favorable situation continues, they could move to home quarantine from May 23. Another 13 people who had contact with the victim remained hospitalized at Gómez Ulla Hospital and were set to undergo a second PCR test under the approved public health protocol.
A 70-year-old man who tested positive remained in a high-level isolation and treatment unit at Gómez Ulla Hospital until clinical recovery, although Spanish health sources said his condition was improving and that he was almost without symptoms. Quarantine for passengers from the Hondius, including those from Spain, began on May 10, when they disembarked in Tenerife. Their situation will be reviewed after 28 days, while the quarantine cannot exceed 42 days, the incubation period for hantavirus.
