Hantavirus cruise crisis deepens as French evacuee develops symptoms during repatriation

An international evacuation operation from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius intensified on Sunday after French authorities confirmed that one of the repatriated passengers had begun showing symptoms during a flight back to France, raising fresh concerns over the outbreak that has already claimed three lives.

The Dutch-flagged expedition vessel, carrying nearly 150 passengers and crew, arrived off the Spanish island of Tenerife early Sunday after weeks of mounting international concern surrounding the rare virus outbreak onboard.

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said five French nationals evacuated from the ship were immediately placed in strict isolation after one passenger developed symptoms while aboard the repatriation flight.

“They are receiving medical care and undergoing tests and medical examinations,” Lecornu said in a statement posted on X.

The development came as Spanish authorities confirmed that more than 90 passengers and crew members were expected to leave the Canary Islands by the end of Sunday as part of a large-scale multinational repatriation effort coordinated with health agencies and foreign governments.

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The outbreak aboard the MV Hondius has triggered global attention because the Andes strain of hantavirus — the only known variant capable of human-to-human transmission — has been identified among confirmed cases.

The World Health Organization has confirmed six positive cases from eight suspected infections linked to the ship. Three passengers — a Dutch couple and a German woman — have died since the outbreak emerged.

While hantaviruses are typically transmitted through contact with infected rodents, the confirmed presence of the Andes variant has heightened international concern due to its rare ability to spread between humans.

Even so, the WHO and European health officials have stressed that the broader public health risk remains low and have sought to avoid comparisons with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Spanish authorities launched the evacuation operation under strict biosecurity protocols at Tenerife’s Granadilla port, where police cordons, isolation tents and protective medical equipment were deployed throughout the disembarkation process.

Passengers wearing full-body protective suits were ferried from the ship to shore in smaller boats before being transferred by sealed military buses to Tenerife South airport for onward flights to their home countries.

The first evacuation flight carried 14 Spanish nationals to Madrid, where they will undergo quarantine at a military hospital. Separate repatriation flights for Dutch, British, Irish, Turkish and American passengers were also scheduled on Sunday, while an Australian evacuation flight is expected Monday.

Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia said all passengers had undergone medical screening before disembarkation and remained asymptomatic at the time of evacuation.

Race against time

Canary Islands authorities have warned that the operation must be completed by Monday, when adverse weather conditions will force the ship to leave.

"If everything continues according to plan... at 19:00 the ship will set sail for the Netherlands" on Monday, Barcones said.

The Atlantic archipelago's government has consistently resisted taking in the ship, which was only authorised to anchor offshore instead of docking in the port.

But all passengers are asymptomatic and underwent a final medical assessment before their disembarkation, Garcia told reporters on Tenerife shortly before the operation began.

Spanish authorities have insisted there will be no contact with the local population in Tenerife.

Spain "is doing what it must do, with technical and scientific rigour and full transparency, with institutional loyalty and with international cooperation", Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Sunday.

International concern

The only hantavirus type that is transmissible between humans -- the Andes virus -- has been confirmed among those who have tested positive, fuelling international concern.

The WHO said Friday it had confirmed six cases out of eight suspected ones. There are no suspected cases remaining on the ship.

The MV Hondius had arrived at Tenerife early on Sunday morning from Cape Verde, where three infected people had been evacuated to Europe earlier in the week.

It left Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1 for a cruise across the Atlantic Ocean to Cape Verde.

The WHO believes the first infection occurred before the start of the expedition, followed by transmission between humans onboard the vessel.

But Argentine provincial health official Juan Petrina has said there was an "almost zero chance" the Dutch man linked to the outbreak contracted the disease in Ushuaia based on the virus's weeks-long incubation period, among other factors.

Health authorities in several countries have been tracking passengers who had already disembarked and anyone who may have come into contact with them.

With inputs from agencies