Hondius arrives – The MV Hondius arrived in Rotterdam on Monday morning to be disinfected after a hantavirus outbreak that left at least 11 people sick and three passengers dead. The remaining passengers had already left the ship elsewhere, and the crew will enter immediate qua
The MV Hondius moved into Rotterdam on Monday morning under tight escort, signaling the end of a six-day quarantine crisis that had kept international health authorities on alert.
The cruise ship. struck by a deadly hantavirus outbreak. began entering the Dutch port for disinfection after all passengers had disembarked elsewhere.. It was carrying 25 crew members and two medical personnel as it reached Rotterdam. where witnesses saw occupants wearing masks on the deck while the vessel was escorted through the port by a tug boat and a Dutch police boat.
Dutch authorities said the crew will enter immediate quarantine. During the outbreak, three passengers who had been aboard the ship died, including a Dutch couple whom health officials believe were the first exposed to the virus while visiting South America.
By the time the ship arrived in Rotterdam, the remaining passengers had already been escorted off the vessel in the Canary Islands by personnel wearing full-body protective gear. Those passengers then boarded flights to more than 20 countries to enter quarantine.
The outbreak has reached at least 11 cases, nine of which have been confirmed.. One of the four Canadians who were in isolation after leaving the ship tested positive on Sunday. according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. which said it would share information about the case with the World Health Organization.
The vessel’s voyage followed a route from Tenerife up the coast of Africa and Europe.. According to the ship operator Oceanwide Expeditions, no one on board is experiencing any symptoms.. The Dutch health ministry said last week that crew members unable to return home would be quarantined in the Netherlands.
Some two dozen passengers and crew were already in quarantine in the Netherlands after arriving on flights over the previous two weeks, while 18 Americans remained under observation at specialized healthcare facilities in the United States designed to treat people with dangerous infectious diseases.
Once everyone is off the ship, the vessel will be decontaminated based on Dutch public health guidelines.. In a letter to the Dutch parliament last week. the health ministry said. “Personal protective measures are being taken to ensure that the cleaners do not need to quarantine after the cleaning.” Public health officials will also inspect the vessel before it is allowed to sail again.. The hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius is the first known case on a cruise ship.
The Dutch company that owns the cruise ship said it doesn’t foresee changes to its operations. It has an Arctic cruise scheduled to sail from Keflavik, Iceland, on May 29.
France’s Pasteur Institute said on Saturday it has fully sequenced the Andes virus detected in a French passenger from the MV Hondius cruise ship and found that it matched viruses already known in South America. with no evidence so far of new characteristics that would make it more transmissible or more dangerous.
hantavirus MV Hondius Rotterdam disinfection quarantine Netherlands Andes virus cruise ship outbreak Oceanwide Expeditions