Canary Islands refuses to allow MV Hondius with hantavirus to dock

Three people have died from the disease so far but the WHO says the risk to the public is still ‘low’.

The Canary Islands have refused to allow a luxury cruise ship experiencing a hantavirus outbreak, a rare disease transmitted to humans from rodents, to dock at any of its ports, despite the Spanish government saying it would be permitted to do so.

The president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, said regional authorities could not allow the MV Hondius – currently anchored off the coast of Cape Verde – to enter the archipelago, saying authorities lacked enough information about the outbreak of the potentially deadly disease to guarantee public safety.

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About 150 people from 23 countries remain stranded on board the Hondius, and three passengers – a Dutch couple and a German national – have already died after contracting hantavirus. The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified eight cases linked to the vessel, including three confirmed infections and five suspected cases. Three of the people suspected of having the virus have recently been evacuated to the Netherlands for treatment, according to the WHO.

Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the ship would be allowed to dock at the Canary Islands, an autonomous community that is part of Spain, in accordance with Madrid’s obligations under “international law and humanitarian principles”, following requests from the WHO and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

However, when the MV Hondius approached the islands, the regional head, Clavijo, said he would not permit the cruise ship to land at the port and called for an urgent meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to discuss the situation.

Switzerland has confirmed that one of its nationals who was on board the ship contracted the illness and is receiving treatment in Zurich, with authorities saying the patient does not pose a threat to the public.

Meanwhile, in South Africa, one person – a British national – is being treated for the Andes strain of the virus, which, in rare cases, can spread among people, according to the country’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases. Hantavirus is more commonly transmitted through contact with the urine, saliva or faeces of infected rodents.

The director-general of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the current risk to the wider public from the disease remained “low”. WHO officials added that hantavirus spreads between humans only after prolonged and very close contact.

The Hondius departed the southern tip of Argentina in late March, with the outbreak of hantavirus reported while the ship was on its way to Cape Verde.

The first affected passenger, a Dutch national, died on April 11, with his body remaining on board the luxury cruise ship until April 24.