WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, along with Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia and Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, arrived on the island of Tenerife on Saturday to help calm locals ahead of the vessel’s arrival, and to help coordinate the disembarkation efforts.
Tedros issued a direct statement to assure the people of Tenerife that, despite lingering fears left over from the 2020 pandemic, "this is not anotherCovid”, and the public health risk of contracting hantavirus is still very low.
Hantavirus can cause severe illness and is generally contracted by inhaling contaminated rodent residue, making transmission between people difficult. Yet, the specific Andes virus detected in this outbreak may be able to spread from person to person in rare cases.
Read more:WHO reassures Tenerife as hantavirus cruise ship MV Hondius approaches
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The Dutch-flagged cruise ship that has spent last week exiled at sea, stricken down by an outbreak of the deadly hantavirus outbreak, has now officially docked in Spain, more than a week after authorities were first alerted to the medical emergency on board,
The MV Hondius, which has more than 140 passengers and crew on board, was directed to the Canary Islands by European health authorities and the World Health Organisation (WHO) after being refused port in Cape Verde.
So far, The outbreak has caused three deaths, and five passengers who had previously left the vessel have since been found to be infected with hantavirus. However, WHO, Spanish authorities, and cruise company Oceanwide Expeditions have all confirmed that no one currently on board the Hondius is displaying any symptoms of the virus.
Symptoms typically manifest one to eight weeks after exposure.
Regarding next steps, Dutch foreign and health ministers informed parliament that Spain has activated theEuropean Union’s civil protection mechanism.
Source: Daily Express :: World Feed
