3 evacuated from hantavirus cruise ship as Spain says it will dock in Canary Islands despite local opposition

Three patients suspected of have hantavirus were evacuated from the MV Hondius cruise ship and were on their way to the Netherlands to receive medical treatment, the World Health Organization said Wednesday. The three are German, Dutch and British nationals, including a British crew member, according to the WHO.

The rare outbreak of the virus killed three people on the cruise.

Cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions said in a statement late Wednesday that a medical plane carrying two of the patients had landed in the Netherlands and a second plane was currently experiencing a delay. The person on board the second plane is in stable condition. Oceanwide Expeditions did not provide details on the cause of the delay and said it would provide an update on arrival as soon as possible.

The British Health Security Agency confirmed in a statement on Wednesday that a British national had been evacuated from the cruise ship to receive treatment in the Netherlands. The UKHSA also said it was aware of two other people who were on board the MV Hondius and who have since independently returned to the UK. Neither are currently reporting symptoms and have been advised to self-isolate, the agency said in its statement, adding: “The risk to the general public remains very low.”

In the latest twist in the ordeal of some 150 passengers, the Spanish government reaffirmed on Wednesday what it had announced the day before, namely that the ship would dock in the Canary Islands, although the head of local government had rejected this project earlier in the day.

In its statement on Wednesday evening, Oceanwide Expeditions also confirmed that the cruise ship has left Cape Verde and is heading north towards the Canary Islands, a journey expected to last three to four days.

The plan announced Tuesday, coordinated between the Spanish government and the WHO, called for the ship to head to the Canary Islands for a “full investigation” and “full inspection” after the evacuation of the three patients. But the head of the archipelago’s regional government, Fernando Clavijo, rejected the idea on Wednesday morning, saying he had requested a meeting with Spanish socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

In a social media post, Clavijo, a member of Spain’s conservative political opposition, wrote: “The Canary Islands always act with responsibility, but they cannot accept decisions taken behind the backs of the Canary Islands institutions and without sufficient information to the population.”

However, at a later press conference, Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia Gomez doubled down, saying the ship would dock in Granadilla, on the Canary island of Tenerife, “within three days”.

“A common health assessment and evacuation system will be put in place to repatriate all passengers, unless their health prevents this,” she told reporters.

On Wednesday, José Domingo Regalado, mayor of Granadilla de Abona in Tenerife, rejected the arrival of the MV Hondius at the municipality’s industrial and logistics port, saying the move went “against what is desired.”

“What we are asking is that measures be taken, because they can be transferred to the nearest airport to their country of origin so that they can be quarantined and be treated by their health system if they need it. And also, most importantly, that the ship is disinfected on the high seas and not moved to a port where there is a local population nearby,” he said.

Regarding Clavijo’s previous comments about the plan, Gomez said she had been in “constant contact” with Clavijo and that he would be involved in all meetings.

A flight which was to evacuate the on-board doctor, who was showing symptoms, to the Canary Islands was canceled on Wednesday morning, a source close to the regional presidency told AFP.

The Spanish Health Ministry later announced that the patients would be treated in the Netherlands.

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, acting director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a statement Wednesday evening that the CDC has been “coordinating with domestic and international partners” since learning of the outbreak.

The CDC was “preparing medical assistance” for all Americans aboard the cruise ship, Bhattacharya revealed. Oceanwide Expeditions said there were still 17 American passengers aboard the Hondius.

Two residents of Georgia who were Passengers on the Hondius, but have since returned to Georgia, are being monitored but have so far shown no signs of infection, the Georgia Department of Health reported Wednesday.

“The safety and health of affected U.S. travelers is our number one goal,” Bhattacharya said.

South African authorities confirmed on Wednesday that they had identified what is known as Andean strain of hantavirus in two people who had already participated in the cruise. The Andean strain, found primarily in Argentina and Chile, can be transmitted from human to human, unlike other strains of the virus.

Swiss authorities announced Wednesday that a man who had previously traveled on the ship and returned home in late April had also tested positive for the Andean strain of the virus, adding that there was “currently no risk to the Swiss population.”

The French Ministry of Health, for its part, declared to the French channel BFM TV that a French “contact case” had been confirmed. The man is believed to have traveled on the same flight as one of two patients evacuated to Johannesburg for treatment at the end of April.

There is currently a British national in intensive care in South Africa after going on the cruise, but French authorities were likely referring to the other patient evacuated to Johannesburg, a 69-year-old Dutch woman who, according to the WHO, left the ship with “gastrointestinal symptoms” on April 24 and died two days later after her condition “deteriorated during a flight to Johannesburg.”

This brings the total number of suspected or confirmed cases to nine, including three deceased, five confirmed under treatment and the Frenchman, on whom few details were given.

Oceanwide Expeditions said two infectious disease specialists were traveling from the Netherlands to the cruise on Wednesday and “will remain on board the ship following its scheduled departure from Cape Verde.”

The MV Hontius, a Dutch-flagged luxury cruise liner, departed Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1. It has been anchored off Cape Verde, an island off the west coast of Africa in the Atlantic, since Sunday.

Argentina’s Health Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that it was reconstructing the itinerary of the Dutch couple, who had crossed southern Argentina and Chile before the expedition. It will also carry out the capture and analysis of rodents in Ushuaia, the press release indicates.

So far, no cases associated with the outbreak have been identified in Argentina, the Health Ministry said.

Ann Lindstrand, the WHO representative to Cape Verde, told CBS News’ Ramy Inocencio on Tuesday that there is no risk of a pandemic-level threat with hantavirus given the low likelihood of human-to-human transmission.

Bhattacharya echoed those guidelines Wednesday, saying hantavirus “is not spread by people without symptoms, transmission requires close contact, and the risk to the American public is very low.”

Spanish and Dutch authorities are “intensely discussing” what will happen to the ship’s passengers, she said. They were asked to stay in their cabins as much as possible.

“If a quarantine is necessary, it will be a decision by the Spanish or Dutch health authorities at that time, in close collaboration with WHO advice,” Lindstrand said.

If necessary, a quarantine could last up to two months, since the incubation period for hantavirus is between one and eight weeks, she added, noting that “eight weeks is an awful long time to be in quarantine.”

Lindstrand said she was in contact with a volunteer doctor on the boat who told her the passengers were “doing surprisingly well,” although they were anxious to find out what their next port of call would be.

“We heard from many people on the boat,” Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, said Tuesday. “We just want you to know that we are working with the operators of the ship. We are working with the countries that you come from. We hear you. We know you are afraid.”