Evacuation of hantavirus-hit ship begins in Canary Islands

GRANADILLA DE ABONA, May 10: Occupants of a cruise ship struck by a deadly hantavirus outbreak that has sparked international alarm began flying home from Spain's Canary Islands on Sunday in a complex repatriation operation.

Three passengers from the MV Hondius -- a Dutch husband and wife and a German woman -- have died, while others have fallen sick with the rare disease, which usually spreads among rodents.

No vaccines or specific treatments exist for hantavirus, which is endemic in Argentina, where the ship departed in April.
But health officials have stressed that the risk for global public health is low and played down comparisons to a repeat of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The final flight to evacuate most of the ship's nearly 150 passengers and crew will leave for Australia on Monday, before the ship continues to the Netherlands, Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia said.    �"AFP