A Dutch cruise ship with a hantavirus outbreak on board is to sail to the Canary Islands, Spain’s health ministry has said.
Two crew members, including the ship’s reportedly British doctor, require urgent medical care and are due to be evacuated on a hospital aircraft to the Canary Islands on Tuesday. A third person linked to a German national who died is also due to be evacuated.
Officials were determining which passengers required urgent evacuation from Cape Verde, where the ship was docked, the health ministry added.
Three passengers who were aboard the MV Hondius have died, after it set sail from Argentina on its voyage across the Atlantic Ocean around a month ago.
Some 149 people from 23 countries remained aboard under “strict precautionary measures”, the ship’s operator Oceanwide Expeditions said.
Aside from the British crew member, there are 22 other British nationals on board.
The remaining passengers would go on to the Canary Islands, where they were expected to arrive within three to four days, the health ministry said, adding that the exact port of arrival had not yet been decided.
Cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions said its plan was to sail to “Gran Canaria or Tenerife”.
It said the World Health Organization (WHO) had explained that Cape Verde “cannot carry out this operation”.
“The Canary Islands are the closest location with the necessary capabilities. Spain has a moral and legal obligation to assist these people, among whom are several Spanish citizens,” the statement added.
