Hantavirus-hit cruise ship arrives at Rotterdam port as final destination

ROTTERDAM - A luxury liner at the centre of an outbreak of hantavirus reached the Dutch port of Rotterdam on May 18, marine tracking sites said, where the authorities prepared quarantine arrangements for the 23 crew and two medical staff remaining on board.

The Dutch-flagged luxury cruise ship had been carrying around 150 passengers and crew from 23 countries when a cluster of severe respiratory illnesses among passengers was first reported to the World Health Organization on May 2.

Three people – a Dutch couple and a German national – have died since the start of the outbreak.

The vessel, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, had been stranded off Cape Verde, its intended final destination, earlier this month after authorities barred passengers from going ashore due to the outbreak.

The WHO and the EU asked Spain to manage the evacuation at the Canary Islands, after which the ship departed for Rotterdam with a skeleton crew and two additional medical staff.

The local port authorities said quarantine facilities had been set up for some of the non-Dutch crew, though it was unclear if they would stay there for the full recommended 42-day quarantine period.

The vessel itself was to undergo disinfection.

Hantavirus is primarily spread by rodents but can be transmitted between people in rare cases and after prolonged, close contact. Incubation can last about six weeks.

Crew, passengers who already left the ship and people in contact with them have been quarantined in several countries around the world.

The current outbreak involves the so-called Andes virus, which has circulated in Argentina and Chile for decades. Ship samples show no meaningful variation in the virus, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has said.

On May 15, the WHO revised its case count to 10 from 11 after an inconclusive US case tested negative. As at May 15, there were 10 WHO reported cases – eight confirmed and two probable – including the three deaths.

British Columbia's government said on May 16 one Canadian, who had been a passenger on the Hondius, had also tested positive for hantavirus. The WHO said on May 17 it was waiting for official updates but that this would make it 11 cases.

It said earlier this month more cases were expected to emerge from the outbreak but stressed that the situation was nothing like Covid-19 and did not constitute a pandemic.

Due to the long incubation period, the search for new cases could continue for months, testing the authorities’ post-Covid communications playbook.

The WHO recommends monitoring and quarantining high-risk contacts for 42 days after exposure, while advising low-risk contacts to self-monitor and seek medical care if symptoms develop. REUTERS