Hantavirus latest: Cruise ship evacuation begins in ‘unprecedented’ operation off Tenerife – UK Times

There are five confirmed and three suspected cases of the virus, including two people who returned to the UK and a British man in hospital in the Netherlands. Several people who were on board the MV Hondius are isolating,

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that detailed investigations are currently underway into the incident, including extensive laboratory testing and epidemiological studies to understand the virus’s spread. Sequencing of the virus from the current outbreak is also ongoing.

Hantaviruses, which have been present for centuries, has a documented history of outbreaks across Asia and Europe, but it is rare to pass between humans.

A first group of passengers, all Spanish nationals, has begun to disembark into a small boat from the cruise ship which was hit by a hantavirus outbreak and is headed to Tenerife’s Port of Granadilla, Spain’s health ministry said.

The ‌passengers will be transported directly ⁠from the port in military buses to the airport and evacuated by a Spanish government plane ‌to Madrid ​where they ‌will taken ⁠to hospital ⁠and quarantined, officials have said.

The first passengers are disembarking the MV Hondius in Tenerife.

Authorities previously said Spanish citizens would be taken off board first.

Passengers will not leave the boat until their allocated evacuation plane has arrived, Spanish officials said.

Passengers from the Netherlands will be the next group to leave the vessel, and their plane ‌will also transport passengers from Germany, Belgium and Greece, Spanish health minister Monica Garcia said ​on Sunday.

After that, passengers from Turkey, France, the UK and U.S. will be evacuated, ‌the minister added, speaking to reporters at the ⁠port of Tenerife.

“The final flight of the operation is departing from Australia… It is ⁠the most complex flight and is scheduled to arrive tomorrow afternoon,” Ms Garcia said, adding that the final flight would pick up six ‌people from Australia, New Zealand ​and other Asian countries.

The plan to offload the remaining 147 passengers and crew on board MV Hondius travelling from Cape Verde to Tenerife has been planned down to the last minute and is also racing against the weather, reports Renée Boskaljon in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria.