Kamal Ghorui
Hantavirus scare on cruise ship
Twenty British nationals evacuated from the virus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius have begun quarantine at a specialist isolation facility in the UK after being flown out of Tenerife amid fears over a hantavirus outbreak linked to the vessel.According to a BBC report, the passengers arrived at Manchester Airport aboard a chartered Titan Airways flight on Sunday before being transferred to Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside.Health officials said all evacuees are currently “healthy and asymptomatic”, but they will remain under observation for 72 hours before undergoing a further 42 days of self-isolation at home.
WHO confirms deaths linked to outbreak
The outbreak aboard the Dutch cruise ship has already claimed three lives. The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed hantavirus infection in six people, including two British nationals who are currently receiving treatment in the Netherlands and South Africa.Officials said the Andes strain of hantavirus — one of the few variants capable of spreading from person to person — was identified among some passengers on board.The MV Hondius had around 150 passengers and crew from 28 countries when it departed Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1.
Evacuated passengers tested before boarding flight
The 20 Britons repatriated to the UK were tested for hantavirus before boarding the evacuation flight from Tenerife South Airport. Alongside them, one German national residing in the UK and one Japanese passenger were also transferred to Arrowe Park Hospital.Professor Robin May, chief scientific officer at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said authorities may revise the isolation timeline depending on scientific assessments in the coming days.“We’ll be supporting them very closely, not just with testing, but also for the very large emotional turmoil this will obviously have,” he said.Health officials have also initiated contact tracing for individuals who may have come into contact with the evacuated passengers.
Emotional support, dedicated isolation flats arranged
Janelle Holmes, chief executive of Wirral University Teaching Hospital Trust, said the passengers would stay in self-contained accommodation units equipped with phones and essential supplies.“What we’ve learnt from past experience is they’re going to be absolutely shattered. They’ve probably felt quite traumatised by the whole experience,” Holmes said.A specialist medical team will remain on site throughout the quarantine period. Any passenger developing symptoms will be shifted to Royal Liverpool University Hospital’s Tropical and Infectious Diseases Unit.Authorities clarified that the hospital continues to function normally and there is no risk to other patients, visitors or staff.
Cases emerge among other nationalities
The outbreak has also affected passengers from several other countries.French Prime Minister Sebastiane Lecornu said a French passenger began showing symptoms while being repatriated from Tenerife to Paris.Meanwhile, US health authorities said that among 17 Americans being evacuated, one individual developed mild symptoms while another tested mildly PCR positive for the Andes strain.There are also two suspected cases linked to the ship, including a British man currently isolated on the remote Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha. The UK military has deployed six paratroopers and two medical clinicians to assist local healthcare workers there.
Ship to undergo disinfection in Rotterdam
While most passengers disembarked for repatriation on Sunday, around 30 crew members, a Dutch nurse and the body of a deceased passenger remain aboard the vessel.The WHO said the ship will now sail to Rotterdam in the Netherlands, where it will undergo full disinfection procedures.
