The Hondius cruise ship, aboard which an outbreak of Hantavirus was detected, entered the port of Granadilla on the island of Tenerife. The vessel dropped anchor, and around 10:30 a.m. (9:30 a.m. local time), the first passengers began disembarking, a special procedure designed to keep these people isolated and prevent further infection. The first group of evacuees consisted of 14 Spanish citizens.
The passengers were boarded a bus, escorted by officers from the Army's Military Emergencies Unit (UME), which will take them to Tenerife South Airport, about 12 minutes away, where they will be boarded directly on the tarmac by a military plane . All asymptomatic, they were authorized to carry only personal belongings, in plastic bags, for safety reasons. The flight from Tenerife will reach Torrejon de Ardoz Air Base (Madrid), from where the Spanish passengers will be transferred to the Gómez Ulla Central Defense Hospital, where they will be kept under observation for 42 days from the time of their last contact on board with an infected person, as recommended on Saturday by Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO director for prevention and preparedness for epidemics and pandemics, who is coordinating the health operation.
Meanwhile, "active surveillance" has been initiated for four people currently in Italy, two Italians and two foreigners . The four were on a connecting KLM flight to Rome, which briefly carried a woman who had been on the MV Hondius and was later hospitalized in Johannesburg, where she died of Hantavirus. The four were traced and their information forwarded to the relevant regions—Calabria, Campania, Tuscany, and Veneto—which immediately implemented the required protocols and activated surveillance "with the utmost caution." They were then quarantined, their contacts were traced, and their health conditions were constantly monitored until the completion of the surveillance period, which lasts approximately 45 days. Currently, the four are not showing any symptoms; they were seated on the plane, explained Mara Campitiello, head of the Department of Prevention, Research, and Health Emergencies at the Ministry of Health, in a row away from that of the deceased tourist.
In Venice, the passenger involved, who is being closely monitored, is a South African citizen who is symptom-free, according to the Region, and is in good health. He was neither close nor prolonged in contact with the deceased, and is therefore considered low risk. A woman from Florence who was aboard the KLM flight, who has also been quarantined, is also at low risk. A citizen residing in the province of Naples, a passenger on that flight who is now in Campania, is also being monitored. Finally, Federico Amaretti, a 25-year-old from Calabria who was on that flight, is being monitored by the health authorities of his province of residence. "I'm fine," he told Tg1. "I have no symptoms. Since this morning, I've been in quarantine at my parents' house. I must avoid all contact, the local health authority has told me. I returned to Italy for a vacation; I work as a sailor."
According to the WHO, six cases of Hantavirus have been confirmed so far out of eight suspected cases, including three deaths, but "assessments shared by the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control currently indicate a low risk for the general population globally and very low in Europe," the Ministry of Health announced. In any case, the utmost caution will be exercised, and precautionary measures will be maintained as long as deemed necessary. Indeed, it is not excluded that they may also be applied to close contacts of the four passengers.
This situation also applies to passengers aboard the MV Hondius, where since May 6th—the Ministry of Health announced —an Italian epidemiologist from the ECDC health staff has been on board to support emergency care activities . Meanwhile, Spanish authorities have identified a woman resident in Catalonia who came into contact with a Dutch woman infected with Hantavirus: she too has been placed in quarantine. The same will apply to passengers and crew members of the Hondius in Tenerife . "The risk to the population of the Canary Islands is low," local health authorities say. There are also 22 British passengers and crew members on board: they will be transferred by special flight to Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside, England, for isolation .
(Unioneonline/D)