Rotterdam: The cruise ship MV Hondius, which has been found to have a Hantavirus outbreak on board, docked in Rotterdam, Netherlands this morning local time for thorough disinfection and cleaning. The ship has 25 crew members on board: 17 from the Philippines, 4 from the Netherlands, 4 from Ukraine, 1 from Russia, and 1 from Poland, plus 2 medical staff, totaling 27 people. None of them are showing any symptoms of illness. However, the Dutch authorities have prepared quarantine facilities for the foreign crew members who have just disembarked. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a maximum quarantine and monitoring period of 42-45 days due to the long incubation period of the disease.
According to Thai News Agency, Oceanwide Expeditions, the cruise ship operator, stated that the thorough cleaning and disinfection of the entire vessel would begin immediately and that they plan to resume Antarctic tours later this year.
The cruise ship departed from Ushuaia, Argentina, for Cape Verde on the west coast of Africa on April 1st. A Hantavirus outbreak, specifically the Andean strain, was reported en route in the Atlantic Ocean, resulting in three deaths and 11 confirmed cases. More than 120 other passengers have already been evacuated by plane from Tenerife, Spain, back to their home countries.
The World Health Organization continues to assess the widespread public risk as "low" and emphasizes that this situation is unlike that of COVID-19 because community transmission is very rare.