The ship at the center of a seaborne outbreak of the deadly hantavirus has docked in the Canary Islands.
The MV Hondius, a Dutch cruise ship, arrived at the islands on Sunday morning, after the rare respiratory virus—usually transmitted from rodents to humans—claimed the lives of three passengers, stoking fears of a new global pandemic.
The more than 140 passengers and crew have begun disembarking the vessel.
“All the passengers remain asymptomatic,” Spain’s Health Minister Monica Garcia said during a Sunday morning news conference.
“The entire operation is proceeding normally.”
Passengers will leave their belongings on the ship and be subject to health screenings before the disembark the ship in small groups.
13 Spanish citizens were the first to leave the ship aboard a small boat.
They were made to wear blue gowns, surgical hats and white masks. They carried their some of their belongings in plastic bags. Emergency crews wore hazmat suits as they escorted the passengers to shore.
They will be quarantined at a military hospital near Madrid.
According to Spanish health officials, the disembarkation was staged to ensure no contact between the passengers and local residents.
Seventeen American passengers will return to the US aboard a special repatriation flight, which will take them to the National Quarantine Unit in Nebraska.
British citizens who return home will be forced to quarantine for 45 days.
It’s believed the outbreak began when a Dutch couple contracted the rare Andes strain of the hantavirus in Argentina.
The husband died aboard the MV Hondius, while his wife died in South Africa, after leaving the ship at St Helena and taking a flight.
A third passenger, a German national, also died.
Three suspected patients were evacuated to the Netherlands for treatment, and a Swiss passenger who returned home also tested positive.
The hantavirus has a mortality rate of around 40%.
It attacks the lungs, causing suffocation. Symptoms first manifest as a severe flu.
At present the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have declared the outbreak a Level 3, the lowest emergency level.
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