Seventeen Americans evacuated from a cruise ship docked off Spain's Canary Islands are being airlifted to the United States, with one experiencing mild symptoms and another testing 'mildly PCR positive' for the Andes strain of hantavirus.
The Hondius cruise ship, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, docked at Tenerife, one of Spain's Canary Islands, early Sunday. Nearly 150 passengers and crew from nearly two dozen nations disembarked the vessel. Local authorities, the World Health Organization, and some international governments led the disembarkation process. The Americans are being airlifted to the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response's Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, HHS said. From Omaha, the passenger experiencing mild symptoms will be flown to a second RESPTC facility. 'Upon arrival at each facility, each individual will undergo clinical assessment and receive appropriate care and support based on their condition,' HHS said. A total of six confirmed and two probable hantavirus cases have been connected to the vessel, with two deaths among the confirmed cases. The vessel first departed from Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1. Though the first known passenger became ill April 6 and died April 11, the outbreak was not identified until May 2, about a week after 30 people, including six Americans and the body of one of the deceased, disembarked at St. Helena on April 24. After the outbreak was declared, the vessel anchored off Cape Verde, where two symptomatic confirmed patients and one previously suspected case were removed by two evacuation flights. On Wednesday, the ship departed for the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands. The Dutch-based Oceanwide Expeditions said that after taking on necessary supplies, the Hondius will transit to the port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, with its remaining crew. The trip is expected to take five days.
