Hantavirus | WHO recommends 42-day monitoring for personnel involved in epidemic-related cruise ships

A Dutch cruise ship, the Hondi, carrying more than 140 passengers and crew members, is heading to Spain’s Canary Islands. It is expected to arrive at Tenerife this afternoon, as measured by local time. Multiple countries have arranged charter flights to bring passengers and crew back home for quarantine and medical checks.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that the monitoring period should be counted from the start of the time since the last contact with a confirmed or suspected case. It recommends active monitoring and follow-up of all passengers and crew for 42 days.

According to the arrangements, the cruise ship will not dock after it arrives, but will anchor offshore. Authorities have designated a 1-nautical-mile safety alert zone and will send a medical team aboard to check passengers for symptoms. The entire process will be conducted under closed management, with personnel on guard. After leaving the port via a closed passage, passengers and crew will depart by charter flight, with no contact with residents along the way.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Spanish officials have arrived on Tenerife to inspect preparations. He previously wrote to residents that the risk to public health from hantavirus remains low and will not trigger a COVID-19–scale outbreak.

So far, this outbreak has resulted in 3 deaths. Some of the infected cases involve the Andes strain, for which human-to-human transmission is possible. The case fatality rate for hantavirus infection is as high as 40%. There are currently no specific treatments or preventive vaccines.