Canary Island: The World Health Organisation (WHO) chief is expected to arrive on the Spanish island of Tenerife on Saturday to assist in coordinating the evacuation of passengers affected by a hantavirus outbreak on board the cruise ship MV Hondius, according to Spanish ministry sources.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will accompany Spain’s health and interior ministers to a command post in Tenerife to ensure coordination between different administrations, health control teams, and the implementation of surveillance and response protocols, the sources said.
Three passengers from the vessel — a Dutch husband and wife and a German woman — have died after contracting the rare disease, while several others have fallen ill. The virus is typically transmitted through rodents.
Health authorities confirmed that the only hantavirus strain capable of human-to-human transmission — the Andes virus — has been detected among positive cases, raising international concern.
The Dutch-flagged ship MV Hondius, carrying around 150 people, is expected to reach Tenerife in the Canary Islands on Sunday.
Following its arrival, special evacuation flights are planned to repatriate passengers to their respective home countries.
Earlier, the WHO stated that the outbreak posed a minimal risk to the general public.
WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said, “This is a dangerous virus, but only to the person who’s really infected, and the risk to the general population remains absolutely low.”
He added that observations from the ship suggested limited transmission, even among close contacts sharing cabins in some cases, noting that the virus does not easily spread from person to person.
The WHO reported on Friday that there were six confirmed cases out of eight suspected infections, with no remaining suspected cases on board.
A flight attendant from Dutch airline KLM, who had contact with an infected passenger and later showed mild symptoms, tested negative for hantavirus, the WHO confirmed.
The infected passenger — the wife of the first person who died in the outbreak — had briefly boarded a flight from Johannesburg to the Netherlands on April 25 but was removed before take-off. She later died in a Johannesburg hospital.
Spanish health secretary Javier Padilla said a woman from the same flight, now in eastern Spain, is being tested for the virus after developing symptoms and is currently in isolation in hospital. He described the likelihood of infection in her case as very low.
Spanish interior ministry sources also said a South African woman who had been on the same flight remained asymptomatic in South Africa after spending a week in Barcelona before returning.
Separately, two residents of Singapore who had been on the ship tested negative but will remain in quarantine, according to Singaporean authorities.
The MV Hondius departed Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1 for an Atlantic cruise towards Cape Verde. During the journey, three suspected cases, including two crew members who later tested positive, were evacuated from Cape Verde to the Netherlands.
The third individual tested negative, according to German authorities, but remains under observation. Provincial health official Juan Petrina said there was “almost zero chance” that a Dutch passenger linked to the outbreak contracted the virus in Ushuaia, citing the incubation period and related factors.
A YouTuber on board, Kasem Ibn Hattuta, said passengers had been reassured after doctors joined the vessel and that morale remained stable despite the situation. He said passengers were keeping calm, wearing masks indoors, and maintaining distance.
The vessel reportedly resumed its journey from Cape Verde, which passengers described as a relief as infected colleagues were receiving medical care. The YouTuber added that people onboard were “smiling and taking the situation calmly.”
Repatriation plans are now being coordinated, with the United States arranging evacuation flights for its citizens who will later be placed in quarantine facilities in Nebraska.
Spanish authorities have stated that the ship will not dock at Tenerife but will anchor offshore. Passengers will be transferred via smaller boats to shore and then transported by bus to the airport.
The evacuation is expected to take place between Sunday and Monday due to anticipated adverse weather conditions, according to the Canarian regional government.
Dock workers in Tenerife staged protests on Friday against the arrival of the ship.
Meanwhile, health authorities reported a suspected case on Tristan da Cunha, a remote British territory in the South Atlantic with a population of around 220 people, following the ship’s previous stops at remote islands in the region.