A major international evacuation operation was underway on Sunday after a deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard the Dutch expedition cruise ship MV Hondius left three passengers dead and several others ill.
The vessel docked in Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands early Sunday morning after spending days isolated at sea amid growing global concern over the rare virus outbreak.
Authorities began evacuating passengers in carefully controlled groups before flying them back to their home countries.
Spanish officials confirmed that more than 90 passengers were expected to leave Tenerife by the end of Sunday.
Fourteen Spanish nationals were flown to Madrid, where they entered mandatory quarantine at a military hospital.
British passengers were flown to Manchester while French nationals were repatriated to Paris under strict medical supervision.
Passengers from the UK will be taken to an isolation facility where they will be kept for up to 72 hours. Medics will then assess whether they can isolate at home or at another suitable location based on their living arrangements.
Five French nationals who had been aboard the Hondius will be placed in “strict isolation until further notice” after one developed symptoms on the plane home, Prime Minister Sebastian Lecornu said.
Dramatic scenes unfolded at Tenerife South Airport as emergency workers wearing white hazmat suits escorted evacuees onto buses and aircraft.
Passengers were disinfected on the tarmac before boarding flights in an unprecedented biosecurity operation coordinated by Spanish health authorities and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The outbreak has so far claimed the lives of a Dutch couple and a German passenger. According to health officials, at least six confirmed or suspected hantavirus cases have been linked to the voyage.
The ship had departed from Ushuaia, Argentina, in April for a South Atlantic expedition before passengers began developing flu-like symptoms.
The outbreak is believed to involve the Andes strain of hantavirus, one of the few forms known to spread between humans, although experts say transmission remains rare.
Health authorities across Europe and the United States are now tracing passengers and monitoring those who may have come into contact with infected individuals.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reportedly classified the situation as a Level 3 emergency response.
Spanish Health Minister Mónica García described the evacuation plan as “unprecedented,” with international agencies racing to prevent further spread of the virus.
