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Hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius arrives in Tenerife

scienceMay 10, 202625435

The Dutch-flagged cruise ship MV Hondius, carrying more than 140 people, arrived off Granadilla port in Tenerife on May 10 as a World Health Organization-led evacuation began. Spanish authorities began tightly controlled screening and evacuation from the vessel between May 10 and May 11 while passengers remained offshore; three passengers have died and several others are sick in a cluster linked to the voyage. The cluster was first reported to the World Health Organization on May 2 and investigators have linked the cases to hantavirus, a rare rodent-borne pathogen that can cause severe respiratory failure. Health officials are repatriating screened passengers because hantavirus has no widely available vaccine or antiviral, making containment and contact tracing critical.

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