Alessia Conti The story of the cruise ship MV Hondius has raised international concerns after the identification of an outbreak of hantavirus on board. The Spanish government announced that the ship will reach Granadilla, a Tenerife, and that a plan has been prepared for theevacuation and the repatriation of passengers: according to the authorities, the clearing operations will begin on May 11, with the supervision of the competent ministries and the involvement of the European Commission and theOMS.
Operation modalities and schedule
The central institutions have explained that the choice of Granadilla It was born from the proximity to an international airport and the archipelago's logistical capacity to manage the transfer of travelers. The operation requires passengers to remain on board the ship until their flights arrive; the countries of theUE will take care of the repatriation of their citizens, while for non-European countries coordinated plans are underway with the European Commission and theOMS.
The government also clarified that passengers will be medically assessed before boarding return flights and that transfers will be carried out following national and international health protocols.
Who will be transferred and where
Among the measures envisaged, the fourteen Spanish citizens on board will be transferred to Madrid and placed in quarantine at the military hospital Gomez Ulla for checks and monitoring.
Some symptomatic passengers have already been urgently evacuated to several countries: European and ECDC sources have confirmed the evacuation of three suspected cases to specialized facilities, while other cases are being managed in South Africa and the Netherlands. Authorities have reiterated that, barring medical impediments, all other passengers will be repatriated to their 21 countries of origin via dedicated flights.
Epidemiological investigation and virus profile
Laboratory tests have revealed elements that refer to the Andean lineage of hantavirus, a variant that, among the 38 known strains, is the only one that has been associated with human-to-human transmission in the past. Precisely for this outcome, testing and contact tracing are at the center of the investigation: the team ofOMS,ECDC and national laboratories are collaborating to map the sequence, assess contagiousness, and define the most appropriate containment measures.
Suspicious origin and tracking
According to the evidence gathered by investigators, the most widely accepted hypothesis is that the infection may have begun during a shore excursion on the ship, with possible contact with rodents carrying the virus or contaminated environments. Investigations are also underway on passengers disembarked at intermediate ports: it was learned that 23 people disembarked at Saint Helena on April 21, and that some of those disembarked subsequently showed symptoms or tested positive, complicating investigations. contact tracking and raising questions about the timeliness of the initial tracing.
Political reactions and logistical unknowns
The decision to authorize the docking was not without tension: the president of the Canary Islands Region, Fernando Clavijo, had expressed strong reservations, citing a lack of technical information, while the central government insisted on constant dialogue with regional authorities. Criticism also focused on the initial handling of the contact tracing process and the timing of contacting disembarked migrants. To ease tensions, Madrid convened inter-ministerial meetings and assured that all decisions would be made in compliance with international law and health protocols.
On the international front, the Director General of theOMS The agency attempted to contain the alarm by recalling that the situation is being carefully monitored and is not comparable to the outbreak of other recent epidemics, while urging states to cooperate to ensure medical care and safe repatriations. Health authorities are continuing their surveillance and communication efforts, while on the practical level, logistical issues remain to be resolved to ensure that repatriation flights and hospital transfers occur without endangering the destination communities.