The director of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, will be on the Spanish island of Tenerife today to coordinate the rescue and transfer of passengers affected by the hantavirus on a cruise ship. This was reported by Spanish government sources.
Ghebreyesus will accompany the Spanish health and interior ministers “to ensure coordination between administrations, health control and the application of planned surveillance and response protocols”, the sources said.
Three passengers on the MV Hondius – a Dutch husband and wife and a German woman – died, while others fell ill with this rare disease that usually spreads among rodents. The infection on board occurred from the only strain of hantavirus capable of transmitting from person to person, the Andes virus.
The Dutch-flagged ship, which has around 150 people on board, is expected to arrive in the Canary Islands tomorrow. Special flights will then take passengers to their home countries.
