Amid the ongoing hantavirus outbreak, the (WHO)’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Saturday (local time) addressed the people of Tenerife, as the Dutch-flagged cruise ship prepares to disembark exposed passengers in Tenerife.
In a rather lengthy post on X, the WHO Director-General addressed the concerns and wrote, “I know you are worried. I know that when you hear the word ‘outbreak or epidemic’ and see a ship approaching your shores, memories surface that none of us has fully overcome. The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not minimise it for a moment.”
‘This is not another COVID-19’: WHO chief
Tedros noted that this is not another . He added, “The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low. My colleagues and I have stated this unequivocally, and I repeat it now. The virus on board the MV Hondius is the Andes strain of hantavirus. It is serious. Three people have lost their lives, and our hearts are with their families. The risk to you, in your daily life in Tenerife, is low. This is the WHO’s assessment, and we do not make it lightly.”
Anger, frustration in Tenerife as hantavirus ship reaches island
His remarks come after the WHO confirmed the on a Dutch-flagged cruise ship that has caused nine confirmed or suspected cases, including three deaths. The ship will disembark this weekend on the Spanish island of Tenerife after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government agreed with the WHO. The vessel has travelled from Cape Verde, where three people were evacuated due to illness.
According to a BBC report, on Friday, dock workers in Tenerife gathered outside the Canary Islands’ parliament building in the town of Santa Cruz to voice concerns that the imminent arrival could pose a health risk to them.
No symptomatic passengers on board: Tedros
In his post addressing the concerns of Tenerife’s residents, Tedros noted that currently there are no symptomatic passengers on board and that a WHO expert is also available on the ship, along with medical supplies.
He added that the Spanish authorities have prepared a careful and detailed plan to disembark the passengers, who will be transferred to land at the industrial port of Granadilla, away from residential areas, in sealed and guarded vehicles, through a fully cordoned corridor, and repatriated directly to their countries of origin. “You will not have contact with them, nor will your families,” he claimed.
The WHO Director-General further went on to say that he will be visiting Tenerife to observe the operation firsthand. He said that he will travel “to stand alongside the health workers, port staff, and officials carrying it out, and to pay my personal tribute to an island that has responded to a difficult situation with dignity, solidarity, and compassion. Your humanity deserves to be witnessed, not just acknowledged from afar.”
Hantavirus outbreak
Hantavirus usually spreads after coming into contact with rodents or their urine, saliva, or droppings, but the WHO said that while it is rare, the Andes strain of the virus may spread between people. According to a CBS News report, the WHO believes that the virus has been transmitted from person to person on the stricken ship, which was on a weeks-long polar cruise from Argentina to Antarctica and several isolated islands in the South Atlantic. When humans catch the virus, it has a mortality rate of up to 50 per cent.
WHO warns 12 countries amid outbreak
The WHO said that 12 countries have been connected, either directly or indirectly, to the hantavirus outbreak response efforts. Some nations are involved because passengers boarded the affected cruise ship or required medical evacuation, while others were alerted after their citizens were identified among travellers or transit passengers. The countries notified by the WHO include Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkiye, the United Kingdom, and the .
- Hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship has resulted in nine confirmed or suspected cases.
- The risk to the general public in Tenerife is assessed as low by WHO.
- WHO is coordinating international response efforts involving 12 countries.
