Hantavirus: what will happen to the French passengers evacuated from the MV Hondius?

After more than a month spent confined on board the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius, affected by an outbreak of hantavirus, the passengers will finally set foot on land at dawn on Sunday, between 5 and 7 a.m. (4 a.m. and 6 a.m. local time). Nearly 150 tourists and crew members – including five French – will carry out an initial medical examination in order to detect and isolate symptomatic people. Then, equipped with FFP2 masks, they will board small boats and will be distributed according to their nationality.

Cruise passengers will disembark «stepped and ordered manner» at the port of Granadella, in Tenerife (Canary Islands), before being taken by bus to Tenerife South Airport, located directly next to the port. There, passengers will take a plane to their country of origin. “No Contact” will not be established with the local population during these trips, the Spanish authorities promised under pressure. Residents, fearing a spread of the hantavirus, demonstrated yesterday in Tenerife to oppose the disembarkation of travelers.

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The five French passengers will be repatriated aboard a specifically chartered plane, and accompanied by protected flight attendants. They will land at “an airport on the Ile-de-France plateau”reported the Ministry of Health, without specifying for the time being which it was.

Blood tests at the Pasteur Institute

They are then expected at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, where they will carry out blood tests, reported franceinfo. If one or more people test positive, they will immediately join the Epidemic and Biological Risk (REB) system. “This procedure provides for a specialized assessment followed by secure care by a reference health establishmentâ€indicates the Ministry of Health. A positive case would thus be isolated in a negative pressure room, equipped with an entry airlock and an exit airlock, as well as unique ventilation to reduce any risk of contamination outside.

Cruise passengers who test negative for hantavirus will be able to return home, where they will be subject to restrictions for six weeks from the day they disembark in Tenerife, the theoretical incubation period of the disease. Their social interactions will be limited to the strict minimum and everyone will have to telework and wear a surgical mask when they go out, reportsThe Parisian . The regional health agencies (ARS) will monitor them during these six weeks and send them appropriate health recommendations. If symptoms appear in a person being monitored, «celle-ci sera immédiatement reclassée en cas suspect et intégrée à la filière sécurisée REB»details the Ministry of Health.

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Six confirmed cases, two more suspects

For the moment, none of the passengers still on board the MV Hondius are showing symptoms of contamination. According to the latest WHO report communicated on May 8, “A total of eight cases, including three deaths, have been reported.” If two cases are for the moment considered as “Probable”, “six cases were laboratory confirmed as hantavirus infections, all identified as being due to Andes virus”the only one among the 53 species of hantavirus recorded in the world to be responsible for human-to-human transmissions.

The fatality rate for this strain is 38%. Among the six confirmed cases, the WHO lists three deaths (a Dutch couple and a German woman), and mentions three passengers who were evacuated to Europe, one person hospitalized in Johannesburg (South Africa) and another in Zurich (Switzerland).