The captain of the cruise ship MV Hondius, on which an outbreak of hantavirus was detected, can finally leave the ship today, announced Tedros Adanom Gebrejesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO).
The cruise ship, which had departed on April 1 from Ushuaia, Argentina, ended its voyage on May 18 in the Dutch port of Rotterdam after passing through the Spanish archipelago of the Canary Islands where more than 120 people disembarked.
“I received the last message from Captain Jan Dobrogowski, who is finally leaving the cruise ship MV Hondius today (Saturday). He still shows no symptoms of hantavirus,” the WHO chief said via X.
“I am deeply grateful to Jan for his cooperation and leadership as he steered the ship through an extraordinary and frightening voyage. Thank you, dear Jan, for leading your passengers to safety,” he added.
Since May 2, the date when the outbreak was first flagged, the WHO has reported a total of 12 suspected and confirmed cases of hantavirus, three of which have ended.
One crew member, who had disembarked in Tenerife and was repatriated to the Netherlands, was confirmed yesterday, Friday, as a new case of Hantavirus and is being treated as a precautionary measure.
During a press conference yesterday, Tedros said more than 600 contacts in 30 countries were still being monitored, with a “small number of high-risk contacts” still to be identified.
