WHO chief heads to Canary Islands as Hondius cruise reports hantavirus cases; evacuation planned
The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, will travel to the Canary Islands today to help coordinate the evacuation of passengers from the Hondius tourist ship after a cluster of hantavirus infections was reported on board, according to Spain’s Interior Ministry.
The vessel is expected to reach the Spanish archipelago on Sunday. The WHO’s latest update cites six confirmed cases among eight suspected, including three fatalities: a Dutch passenger couple and a German woman. There is no vaccine or specific treatment for the virus.
Three people were disembarked in Cape Verde on Wednesday. Tedros is expected to join Spain’s health and interior ministers in Tenerife to ensure coordination between services, health controls, and the implementation of inspection and intervention protocols, the ministry sources said.
A local Canary Islands government official said disembarkation should take place from midday Sunday through Monday within a single available weather window, with Tenerife identified as the main coordination point for the operation. The WHO emphasized that the risk of wider transmission is considered extremely low.
“It is a dangerous virus, but only for the person infected. The risk for the general population remains extremely low,” WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said in Geneva, adding that transmission requires very close contact and “we are not dealing with a new Covid.” The Hondius, owned by Dutch travel company Oceanwide Expeditions, departed Ushuaia, Argentina, on 1 April.
Health authorities in Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego province said the likelihood of infection in Ushuaia is practically zero. The ship is currently sailing toward the Canary Islands and is expected to arrive on Sunday, when WHO and Spanish authorities plan to oversee the passenger disembarkation and health screening within the forecasted weather window.