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TRANSCRIPT:
With around 150 passengers still on board, the MV Hondius is back on the move, headed to Spain's Canary Islands, after being moored off the coast of Cape Verde for several days due to a Hantavirus outbreak.
Two patients infected with hantavirus and a third suspected case have been evacuated from the vessel and flown to the Netherlands for treatment, according to the World Health Organisation.
Three people have died in the outbreak on board the ship and eight cases in total have been recorded.
But World Health Organisation officials, including epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove, say the risk to the broader public remains low.
"This is not the next Covid. But it is a serious infectious disease. You know, it's an infectious disease that if people get infected, and infections are uncommon, they can die. And so, again, people hearing this that are on the ship are, you know, very rightly so scared and the general public might be scared as well. So, early information, accurate information is critical, knowing what your actual exposure might be. And most people will never be exposed to this."
The three people evacuated from the ship include the vessel's doctor, who had been in a serious condition but later improved.
They were taken to Amsterdam and the Dutch foreign ministry says all are being transferred on to specialised hospitals in Europe.
Two remain in serious condition, while the third has no symptoms but had close contact with a passenger who died aboard the ship.
Maria Van Kerkhove from the W-H-O gave an update of all eight known cases:
“At the present time, we have eight suspected cases, of which three have died, three have been confirmed, and these cases are all associated with the ship. We have one patient that is currently in ICU in South Africa who's actually doing better. We have three people that have today been medically evacuated from the ship and are on their way to the Netherlands. And we have one recent case that has been identified here in Switzerland, associated with the ship, but getting off the ship in St. Helena. And the last case is a suspected case; it is an older woman who unfortunately passed away on board.”
Passengers and crew still on board remain without symptoms and are isolating in their cabins as the ship sails toward the Canary Islands, where officials say its arrival poses no risk to the public.
People usually contract hantavirus by inhaling contaminated rodent droppings.
University Hospital Düsseldorf Head of Tropical Medicine, Dr Torsten Feldt, says the strain in question here can spread person-to-person.
“According to initial reports, this is the South American virus, specifically the Andes virus subtype. Not only is it more dangerous, with more severe symptoms and a higher mortality rate, but it is also the only virus subtype that can be transmitted from person to person."
But W-H-O's representative in Cape Verde, Ann Lindstrand, says the risk is still low.
"This Andes type is the one which has shown before to be able to spread human to human more than other strains,. However we must say the risk is very low still. Even on the boat there are 147 people were on that boat and now we have eight people who have been showing signs. There needs to be even with this Andes a close contact between, sharing cabin or something really being close to be able to spread the disease from one to the other."
With the vessel expected to dock in Tenerife, Spanish authorities are preparing for its arrival.
Health Minister, Monica Garcia, says if they are still healthy, all non-Spanish citizens will then be repatriated to their home countries.
"The ship will continue on to the Canary Islands, where it is expected to arrive within three days at the secondary port of Granadilla de Abona. It is a port with very little activity. A secondary port located ten minutes from Tenerife South Airport. Once there, a joint health assessment and evacuation procedure will be put in place to repatriate all passengers. Unless their medical condition prevents it, all foreign passengers will be repatriated through the European Civil Protection Mechanism."
The 14 Spanish passengers will be quarantined in a military hospital in Madrid, with the duration of the quarantine to depend on when they potentially had contact with the virus.
Ms Garcia says the virus has a 45-day incubation period.
It's not known how the virus got on board the Hondius but investigators are examining whether a Dutch couple may have contracted the virus in southern Argentina before boarding, possibly after exposure to rodents at a landfill site.
Authorities in Europe and Africa are tracing contacts linked to passengers who disembarked earlier in the voyage, which began April 1 in South America and included stops in Antarctica and remote Atlantic islands.
With the early stages off the outbreak playing out off Cape Verde on the coast of Africa, the World Health Organization is calling for more investment in the continent's health workforce.
W-H-O Regional Director for Africa, Dr Mohamed Janabi, says Africa has been directly impacted, with critical cases treated in South African ICUs.
“Let us commit to three priorities: Plan better by protecting training investments, train smarter, using scaleable and practical approaches, and retain our talents through clear career pathways and supportive working environments. If we get this right, we are not only responding to hantavirus, we are strengthening Africa’s health security for every threat ahead."
He says the situation underscores the need for a coordinated global response and stronger health systems.
