The cruise ship at the centre of a deadly outbreak of hantavirus has been cleared to sail again following a comprehensive disinfection process. The Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius sparked a global health crisis earlier this month after passengers fell ill from the disease. In total, there have been 13 confirmed cases linked to the outbreak, with three deaths.
Now, after a deep clean and disinfection at Rotterdam, the ship is ready to sail again. The Dutch public health agency has declared that there are 'no longer any obstacles to putting the Hondius back to sea'. During the checks, infection control experts 'determined that the Hondius had been cleaned effectively and that disinfection had been carried out in accordance with established guidelines,' a statement from the agency read.
The owner of the MV Hondius, Oceanwide Expeditions, has confirmed that the Hondius would leave Rotterdam once inspections were complete and that it would resume its cruise schedule from June 13. The Hondius was sailing from Ushuaia, Argentina, to Cape Verde when its journey was disrupted after three passengers fell ill and died following the hantavirus outbreak. Some passengers had left the ship at the island of St Helena before the alert was raised.
Hantavirus is a rare virus spread by rodents for which no vaccines or specific treatments exist. Most passengers were taken off the ship on Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands, then flown back to their home countries. The 22 British passengers on board were taken to Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral, in Merseyside, where they entered quarantine on May 10. Six people were allowed to leave the hospital to complete their isolation at home on May 13, but the other 16 passengers remain there. The ship finished its transatlantic voyage on May 18 in Rotterdam, Europe's largest port, where the remainder of its crew was placed in quarantine.
