Spain has begun evacuating passengers infected with hantavirus from a cruise ship
Spanish health officials boarded the MV Hondius cruise ship, which had previously recorded an outbreak of hantavirus, to evacuate passengers. This was reported by the Reuters news agency on May 10.
"Spain has begun the process of evacuating passengers from a cruise ship infected with hantavirus and anchored off the coast of Tenerife. Health officials boarded the ship to conduct a final check and begin disembarking passengers," the article says.
According to the newspaper, Spanish citizens will be the first to land. They will arrive in small boats in groups of five. They will then be transferred to buses and taken to the local airport. The Spaniards will fly to Madrid on a military plane.
The Spanish authorities said the remaining passengers would not leave the ship until the arrival of their assigned evacuation planes from other countries. The 30 crew members will remain on board and travel to the Netherlands, where the ship will be disinfected.
The outbreak of hantavirus on the MV Hondius became known on May 3. At least two people had already died on board the ship from Argentina. After a while, the death toll increased to three.
On May 6, the Minister of Health of the Republic of South Africa, Aaron Motsoaledi, clarified that the strain that killed the passengers of the liner could be called Andes. According to him, the strain is the only one of 38 of its kind that can be transmitted between humans.
On May 9, Juan Jose Badiola, director of the Center for Encephalopathy and New Infectious Diseases at the University of Zaragoza, spoke to Izvestia about the ways hantavirus spreads. The expert explained that this disease can be obtained first from a rodent, and then transmitted to a person through close contact. Virus particles can also hover in an unventilated room.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
