Di operation to repatriate passengers and crew of di hantavirus-hit cruise ship, di MV Hondius, don almost complete. Up to 150 people don start to fly home aboard military and government planes from Spain’s Canary Islands.
Di World Health Organization recommend, but no mandate, a 42-day quarantine once dem land. Different countries dey manage quarantine differently.
One American citizen wey dey repatriation flight begin show symptoms of hantavirus, and another test mildly PCR positive for di Andes virus. Di US Department of Health and Human Services say both passengers dey travel inside di plane’s biocontainment units out of abundance of caution. Di passenger wey test positive no dey experience symptoms, according to University of Nebraska Medical Center, where di Americans dey go.
France prime minister say one citizen of dat country also begin show symptoms during repatriation flight. Passengers begin disembark Sunday morning after di ship dock for Spain’s Canary Islands. Officials don previously say nobody aboard di ship dey show symptoms of hantavirus, wey typically transmit by rodents. Patients involved for di outbreak don test positive for di rare Andes strain wey fit transmit from person to person.
Since di ship dock, passengers don carefully evacuate by nationality and place on repatriation flights. Spanish nationals disembark first, then board plane for Madrid, where dem take dem to military hospital. French and British passengers don also evacuate. Di French passenger dey on repatriation flight when dem begin show symptoms, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu say for social media. Lecornu no say if di passenger don test for hantavirus, or wetin be di symptoms. All five passengers dem immediately place for strict isolation until further notice, and go undergo testing, he say.
There don be at least nine confirmed or suspected cases of hantavirus linked to di outbreak on di ship, including three fatalities: a Dutch couple and a German woman. Di MV Hondius, wey carry nearly 150 people from more than 15 countries, including 17 Americans, don set sail earlier dis week from Cape Verde to Granadilla, after Spain agree to take di ship. Oceanwide Expeditions, di ship operator, say all passengers and a portion of di approximately 60 crew members go evacuate di ship using launch boats wey carry maximum of five to 10 people each. People then check for symptoms. Passengers and crew members no get contact wit di local population for Tenerife before dem take dem to dia evacuation flights, authorities say.
Di operation for Tenerife dey supervised by Spain health and interior ministers and di World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Although health officials don say risks from di cruise outbreak remain low for di general public, those disembarking and port workers wear face masks, hazmat suits, respirators and other protective gear during di evacuation process.
After disembarkation, a skeleton crew go take supplies and then begin di journey to Rotterdam, Netherlands, wey expect to take about five days, Oceanwide Expeditions say. Di body of a passenger wey die on board go remain on di ship, wey go disinfect once e reach Rotterdam, according to Spanish authorities.
Di US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say dem dey send team of epidemiologists and medical professionals to di Canary Islands to conduct an exposure risk assessment for each American passenger and provide recommendations for di level of monitoring required. Di medical repatriation flight go land at Offutt Air Force Base for Omaha, Nebraska, and di passengers go take to special biocontainment unit at University of Nebraska Medical Center. Di passenger wey test positive go send to di Nebraska Biocontainment Unit, di medical center say, where dem go monitor dem out of abundance of caution and follow-up testing go perform. Di medical center say di passenger wey test positive dem manage separately from other passengers during transport using appropriate biocontainment measures.
Michael Wadman, medical director of di National Quarantine Unit at di University of Nebraska Medical Center, previously say each American go get dia own room while dem quarantine for unspecified amount of time. One of di Americans wey don return home na Northern California resident, according to di Santa Clara Public Health Department.
Each country don come up wit dia own quarantine plan. Spaniards go dey under quarantine at military hospital for Madrid. For France, Lecornu say in addition to isolating di passengers on di repatriation flight, he go issue decree to implement appropriate isolation measures for close contacts and to protect di general population.
Hantaviruses na family of diseases wey spread to people from rodents through urine, droppings or saliva, according to di CDC. E fit take up to eight weeks after contact for symptoms to develop. WHO say di Andes strain of di virus, wey dey find for Latin America, na di only one wey dey known to fit transmit di virus through human-to-human contact, wit Tedros assessing di public risk as low. “Dis no be another COVID, and di risk to di public dey low. So dem no should fear and dem no should panic,” Tedros say. He also say several years of scientific evaluations of di virus and its behavior, in addition to how di virus don behave so far for dis particular outbreak, don inform dat judgement.
Di source of di outbreak remain under investigation. Prior to boarding di ship, di Dutch couple wey die, a 70-year-old man and his 69-year-old wife, dem believe don spend weeks traveling through Argentina, Chile and Uruguay on a bird-watching trip for areas where di species of rodent known to carry di Andes virus dey present, Tedros say. Di man develop symptoms on April 6 and die on di ship on April 11, WHO say, but no samples take because im symptoms be similar to those of other respiratory viruses, and hantavirus no suspect at dat time. Im wife then go ashore when di ship dock for di British territorial island of St. Helena. She show serious symptoms on a flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, on April 25, and die for South Africa di following day, WHO say. Testing confirm she don contract hantavirus. Di German woman show symptoms on April 28 and die aboard di ship on May 2, according to WHO.
Three other patients dem fly off di ship to di Netherlands for emergency medical care dis week, and a Swiss man wey begin show symptoms after disembarking di ship dey receive care for Zurich. A British man medically evacuate to South Africa, while another British national wey don disembark di ship dey hospitalize on di island of Tristan da Cunha, a British territory. Oceanwide Expeditions say 32 passengers from about a dozen countries don disembark di Hondius for St. Helena, including di Dutch woman wey die days later.
Di Hondius set sail for its cruise April 1 from Ushuaia, Argentina, wey take am to several islands for di south Atlantic, including di South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, Tristan da Cunha, Gough Island and then St. Helena from April 21 to April 24. Di vessel then anchor off di coast of Cape Verde, an archipelago located off West Africa, for several days before heading to di Canary Islands.
Do you have a news tip for NNN? Please email us at editor @ nnn.ng
