Live updates: Hantavirus outbreak, passengers disembark cruise ship in Tenerife

Key Points:

• The MV Hondius cruise ship, affected by a hantavirus outbreak that resulted in three deaths, has docked in Tenerife, Canary Islands, where passengers are undergoing health screenings and disembarking in a coordinated operation involving multiple countries and the WHO.
• So far, 46 passengers from Spain, France, Canada, and the Netherlands have disembarked, with all 146 passengers and crew expected to be evacuated by Monday evening; the ship will then sail to its original port in the Netherlands with a reduced crew and medical team onboard.
• US passengers will be screened and monitored at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, a specialized facility with negative pressure rooms designed to contain infectious diseases, with options to remain there or safely return home under public health supervision.
• All passengers are currently asymptomatic according to Spain’s Health Ministry, and authorities are conducting thorough epidemiological investigations and disinfecting the ship; the WHO and CDC consider the outbreak a low risk to the general public but continue close monitoring.
• In a related development, British Army medics parachuted onto the remote island of Tristan da Cunha to treat a UK national suspected of hantavirus infection, marking the first UK military parachute medical humanitarian support mission.