Two passengers evacuated from the MV Hondius positive for hantavirus: Spain defends itself and says it has taken “all the necessary measures”

Spain defends itself against any laxity. The Spanish government assured Monday that it had taken “all measures” necessary to prevent the spread of the hantavirus after the announcement of two positive cases among people evacuated on Sunday to the Canaries from the cruise ship MV Hondius.

“All the measures adopted from the start have aimed to break possible chains of transmission,” defended the Ministry of Health in a press release. On Monday, the health ministries in Washington and Paris announced that an American man and a French woman, both evacuated from Hondius on Sunday, had tested positive for hantavirus.

Concerning the American passenger, an epidemiologist from a European Union health agency (ECDC) boarded the Hondius off the coast of Cape Verde at the beginning of the week and carried out a test on him, according to the account given by the ministry.

“The person in question did not present symptoms when he was in Cape Verde”, but “the American authorities decided to treat this case as positive”, he assured, specifying that, for the Spanish health authorities, the test was not recognized as positive.

The question of incubation time

“As for the French patient, she started to feel unwell during the flight and not while she was on board the ship,” said the Spanish Ministry of Health, confirming what French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu had said on this subject.

“In a patient who develops a fever, it would not be surprising to see a few cases appear among close contacts. It is precisely for this reason that all transmission prevention and control measures have been applied,” the ministry concluded in its press release.

In addition to the announcement of these two positive cases, questions also focused on Monday in the Canaries around a photograph of at least one occupant evacuated from the Hondius, seen with his FFP2 mask pulled down in the bus which transported him to his repatriation plane.

“It’s true”, admitted Sunday evening the Spanish Minister of Health, Mónica García, referring however to “maximum reinforced precautionary measures” that the evacuees “must respect”.