Spain readies for evacuations as hantavirus-hit cruise ship heads for Canary Islands

Madrid, May 8: Spanish authorities on Friday were preparing to receive more than 140 passengers and crew members on board a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship headed for the Canary Islands, where health officials have said they will perform careful evacuations.
The vessel is expected to reach the Spanish island of Tenerife, off the coast of West Africa, on Saturday or Sunday.
“They will arrive at a completely isolated, cordoned-off area,” said Virginia Barcones, Spain’s head of emergency services, on Thursday.
Spain is coordinating with governments whose citizens are on board the ship about evacuation plans, Barcones said.
The United States has agreed to send a plane to the Canary Islands to repatriate its 17 citizens from the cruise ship, she said. The British government also said it will charter a plane to evacuate the nearly two dozen British citizens still on the MV Hondius.
At least three passengers have died, and several others are sick. The World Health Organisation says the risk to the wider public from the outbreak is low.
Hantavirus is usually spread by the inhalation of contaminated rodent droppings and isn’t easily transmitted between people. Symptoms usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure.
None of the remaining passengers or crew on the ship is currently symptomatic, the Netherlands-based Oceanwide Expeditions cruise ship company said. At least two Indian nationals are part of the crew of the Dutch vessel, according to the BBC. (Agencies)