Hantaan virus infection onboard a cruise ship: the ship’s doctor was infected; passengers say medical resources and screening are insufficient

The Hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship “Hondius” arrived at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Spain, in the early morning of the 10th. According to data released by the World Health Organization on the 8th, as of that day, a total of 8 cases had been reported, including 3 deaths; 6 cases were laboratory-confirmed to be Hantavirus infections, specifically the Andes virus from the Hantavirus family. It is reported that one of the infected individuals is a doctor on the cruise ship. According to U.S. news on the 9th, after the doctor contracted Hantavirus, Stephen Cohenfield, an oncologist from Oregon, voluntarily took over medical assistance on the cruise, helping to care for passengers showing symptoms. Meanwhile, some passengers have questioned the cruise’s response measures to the outbreak. Passenger Ruchi Jennett stated, “Having only one doctor on board is simply not enough, and this doctor later also contracted the virus.” He believes that the health screening before passengers boarded the ship should have been more rigorous and that the level of attention to the pandemic risk was insufficient. (CCTV News)