Madrid, 10 May (H.S.):
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrived in Spain’s Canary Islands on Saturday to oversee the difficult evacuation of more than 100 people from a Dutch cruise ship hit by a rare and deadly hantavirus outbreak. Tedros told residents of Tenerife not to panic, stressing that the disease “is not Covid” and that the risk to the local population is low.
The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius is expected to reach Tenerife on Sunday morning, where it will anchor off the island’s largest port area before passengers and crew are transferred ashore in a carefully controlled operation. Spanish and WHO officials are coordinating the evacuation, which will involve multiple flights for European Union and non-EU nationals, including 17 Americans on board.
WHO officials said the ship had 147 people on board, including 60 crew members, and that no one currently aboard was showing symptoms at the time of the latest update. Earlier reports said at least eight people on the vessel had suspected hantavirus infection and three had died during the voyage from Argentina.
The ship had sailed from Argentina on April 1 and made stops at remote South Atlantic islands, including Tristan da Cunha and St Helena .
Tedros said the world’s experience during the COVID-19 pandemic had understandably made people anxious, but he emphasized that this outbreak should not be compared with coronavirus. He also said people evacuated from the ship should remain in isolation for 42 days after their last possible exposure to the virus.
Why this matters: hantavirus is rare, but the presence of deaths on board and the need for a large-scale evacuation made international health authorities move quickly . The WHO’s message is meant to reassure Tenerife residents while keeping strict public-health precautions in place.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
