Deadly hantavirus cruise outbreak sees WHO issue ‘Covid’ statement | World | News
MV Hondius left Cape Verde and headed for the Canary Islands (Image: Getty)
The current outbreak of a deadly infectious disease on a cruise ship is not the start of another covid-style outbreak, the World Health Organization has insisted. Five cases of the potentially fatal hantavirus have been confirmed on a cruise ship bound for the Canary Islands, where three passengers died. The MV Hondius left Cape Verde after several days of medical evacuation and is expected to arrive in Tenerife this weekend despite open opposition from the Canary Islands government, which insists it has not been given enough information about the disease to make any public health decisions.
Three people died on the ship that left Argentina about a month ago. Two Britons who left the ship in Saint Helena in April have returned to the UK and are currently in self-isolation. A total of seven British nationals were confirmed to have left the ship early on Thursday. His contacts are currently being followed.
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Cruise ship expected to arrive in Tenerife this weekend (Image: Getty)
Approximately 150 passengers are still on board, trapped in their cabins. Officials confirmed that all on board are currently asymptomatic.
Speaking at a hastily organized WHO press conference, infectious diseases epidemiologist Maria van Kerkhove emphasized that although the current outbreak is worrying, it should not be compared to the beginning of coronavirus lockdowns in 2020.
He said: “I want to be clear here. This is not SARS-CoV-2. This is not the beginning of a Covid outbreak. This is an outbreak we saw on a ship.”
Cruise travel is highly sensitive to perceptions of health risks on board, especially after Covid-19, and many worried passengers vowed to halt their cruise holidays on social media following the incident.
One woman shared a video of herself previously taken on a cruise ship, saying she was sharing it now because she would “never go on a cruise again.” In another TikTok post, a user said he would refuse to board a cruise ship even if he was paid $100,000, adding: “How many infectious viruses do we have to have on a cruise for people to stop boarding the damn ship?” Another user went further, calling for a complete ban on cruise ships.
But cruise industry expert Stewart Chiron, also known as the “Cruise Guy”, insisted: “This is a very isolated case.
“Despite the rhetoric when stories like this emerge, consumers remain extremely confident in cruise travel. The cruise industry is the most heavily regulated vacation option by various world health organizations.”
Mr. Chiron noted that modern cleaning procedures and preventative health measures mean that outbreaks of viruses or diseases are actually less common on cruise ships than on land.
Anxious residents in the Canary Islands are reliving difficult memories of the Covid outbreak.
Three people were evacuated from the ship on Wednesday (Image: Getty)
A nurse in the Canary Islands, who asked to remain anonymous, said fears were growing that Tenerife’s hospitals and health centers could face lockdown measures if the situation escalated. He added that if the islands’ quarantine protocols for viruses are implemented, it could affect schools and health centres.
“It will be just like Covid. People are worried about their children, elderly relatives and the vulnerable.”
Some online have even called for a protest at Plaza de España in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife on Friday, May 8, to protest the docking of the ship. On Thursday 7 May, another protest was held in Gran Canaria, calling for the safety, integrity and protection of the Canarian people, using slogans such as “health is not negotiable” and “our islands are not an experiment”.
The WHO said about the virus: “Human hantavirus infection is transmitted primarily through contact with the urine, feces or saliva of infected rodents.
“This is a rare but serious disease that can be fatal. Although rare, limited human-to-human transmission has been reported in previous outbreaks of Andes virus (a specific strain of hantavirus).
“WHO currently assesses the risk of this event to the global population as low and will continue to monitor the epidemiological situation and update the risk assessment.”
A spokesperson for the Cruise Line International Association told the Express: “The global cruise industry maintains comprehensive health, sanitation and medical protocols designed to protect the health and well-being of passengers and crew, and CLIA member cruise lines are required to comply with policies that go well beyond regulatory requirements.
“CLIA member cruise lines operate under stringent requirements that include enhanced cleaning and disinfection procedures, ongoing monitoring of illnesses, and rapid response measures when health concerns arise. These protocols are informed by international public health guidance and are regularly reviewed and updated.
“Cruise ships are also subject to oversight and control by public health authorities in key jurisdictions, and CLIA member ocean cruise lines are required to operate with on-board medical facilities and trained personnel that are equipped to manage a wide range of health conditions.
“As a result of these layered measures, available public health data indicate that disease rates on cruise ships are low and, in many cases, lower than in similar environments on land.”
