Hantavirus scare on cruise ship carrying Indians: What happened on MV Hondius?
Madrid (Spain): The Indian Embassy in Spain on Sunday (May 10) confirmed that the two Indian nationals onboard the Hantavirus-hit cruise vessel MV Hondius are “healthy and asymptomatic” after the ship arrived near the Canary Islands under international health monitoring measures.
In a statement issued from Madrid, the embassy said the Dutch-flagged vessel, carrying around 150 people, including two Indian crew members, reached Spain on Sunday. The ship had anchored off the coast of Spain’s Canary Islands after concerns over a Hantavirus outbreak involving passengers onboard.
The embassy said Indian officials are monitoring the situation and are in touch with both Spanish authorities and the Indian nationals on the vessel.
“The ambassador is in close contact with the Spanish authorities and the two Indian nationals (crew members) and is regularly monitoring the situation to assure the well-being and safety of the Indian nationals,” the statement said.
According to the embassy, passengers on the vessel disembarked under health procedures laid down by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Spanish authorities.
The two Indian crew members have now been moved to the Netherlands, where they will undergo quarantine under health safety rules.
“The 02 Indian nationals are healthy and asymptomatic. As informed by the Spanish National Center for Emergency Monitoring and Coordination (CENEM), the 02 Indian nationals who were travelling as crew members, have been evacuated to the Netherlands where they will be quarantined as per relevant health safety protocol,” the embassy added.
WHO issues advisory after Hantavirus cases
The World Health Organisation (WHO) also issued a technical note on X regarding the disembarkation process and management of passengers and crew involved in the MV Hondius incident.
The WHO advised countries to “implement a risk-based approach to the identification, monitoring and management of contacts of probable or confirmed Andes virus (ANDV) cases from the MV Hondius cruise ship and related to the event on that cruise ship. The ANDV has been associated with limited human-to-human transmission, usually associated with close and prolonged contact”.
According to the WHO, eight Hantavirus cases, including three deaths, had been reported as of Friday (May 8). The agency said six of those cases were laboratory-confirmed infections and all were identified as Andes virus (ANDV). The reported fatality ratio presently stands at 38 percent.
Health authorities have been monitoring the situation because Andes virus is one of the few hantavirus strains that has shown limited human-to-human transmission, though experts say such spread usually happens only through prolonged close contact.
Indian experts say there is no cause for panic
Back in India, medical experts have tried to calm concerns after reports about the outbreak involving a cruise ship carrying Indian crew members triggered public attention.
Speaking to ANI, Dr Naveen Kumar, director of the ICMR-National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, said the cases involving Indian nationals do not point to any wider public health threat in India.
“At present, the reported infections among Indian nationals aboard a cruise ship appear to be isolated imported cases and do not indicate community spread in India. Since hantavirus transmission is primarily rodent-borne and not easily spread between humans, the immediate public health risk remains low,” he said.
Dr Kumar also explained that hantavirus infections are mainly spread through contact with infected rodents or their droppings and added that human-to-human transmission is extremely uncommon.
The developments around MV Hondius have prompted health agencies across Europe to coordinate passenger management and monitoring efforts over the past few days, while countries continue to track possible exposure from the cruise voyage.
