Update on hantavirus outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius

The captain of the cruise ship MV Hondius, Jan Dobrogowski, has been cleared to leave the vessel as of Saturday, according to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The ship departed Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1 and concluded its journey in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on May 18, after stopping in the Canary Islands where over 120 passengers disembarked. Since the outbreak was identified on May 2, the World Health Organization has reported a total of 12 suspected and confirmed hantavirus cases, including three deaths. A crew member who disembarked in Tenerife and was repatriated to the Netherlands was confirmed as a new case on Friday and is currently hospitalized for precautionary reasons. Health authorities are monitoring more than 600 contacts across 30 countries. The WHO continues to urge affected nations to track all passengers for the remainder of their quarantine periods to locate a small number of remaining high-risk contacts.