The World Health Organization (WHO) is recommending a 42-day quarantine for anyone who was aboard the vessel affected by a hantavirus outbreak, though individual countries remain free to make their own decisions, the agency’s Director-General stated today.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the WHO has issued a recommendation for a 42-day quarantine with “active monitoring,” either at home or in a healthcare facility, for crew members and passengers of the MV Hondius following their departure from the ship. Mr. Ghebreyesus emphasized that while this is “clear advice,” the WHO “advises countries, it does not impose,” and each nation will adopt the protocols it deems most relevant.
While acknowledging that “there are risks” if quarantines are not implemented, Tedros reiterated that the WHO does not force any country to follow a specific proposal. Countries such as Spain, the United Kingdom, and France have announced that their citizens from the cruise will undergo quarantine, while others, like the United States, have indicated they may not adopt such measures.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke to journalists at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, in Spain’s Canary Islands, where the disembarkation and repatriation operation began today. According to the Spanish government, 94 people of 19 nationalities were removed from the MV Hondius today and transported via eight flights from Tenerife South Airport to their countries of origin or residence.
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On Monday, an additional 24 people will be disembarked and repatriated to Australia and the Netherlands.
The ship, with a portion of the crew remaining on board who will not disembark in the Canaries, will then proceed to the Netherlands, where the cruise is registered and where the owner is based.
Tedros and Spanish Health Minister Mónica García confirmed that a French citizen presented symptoms (coughing) during the flight between Tenerife and France. This person is currently considered a suspected case, and it will be up to France to apply the national protocol it has adopted for this hantavirus situation.
The WHO has confirmed six cases out of eight suspected infections among those who traveled on the ship. Three people have died, and none of the patients or suspected cases were still on board when the ship arrived in the Canaries this morning. The vessel had been traveling from Argentina through the South Atlantic and triggered an international health alert last weekend.
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Hantavirus is generally transmitted from infected rodents. The variant detected on the liner, Andes hantavirus, is rare and can be transmitted from person to person. Symptoms initially resemble the flu—including cough, fatigue, headache, and muscle aches—and, depending on the strain, the virus can cause pulmonary or renal infections. The WHO maintains that the risk of this outbreak to the general population remains low.
