The acting director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a firm statement regarding the hantavirus-infected cruise ship, emphasising that the situation is not akin to the COVID-19 pandemic, in an effort to prevent public panic as American passengers are expected to return to U.S. soil imminently.
CDC Director Assures Public
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the acting director of the CDC, told CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday morning that the hantavirus outbreak will not escalate into a pandemic. 'This is not COVID, Jake, and we don't want to treat it like COVID,' Bhattacharya stated. 'We don't want to cause a public panic over this. We want to treat it with the hantavirus protocols that were successful in containing outbreaks in the past. And so we followed those protocols.'
He further explained that the health alert was issued due to the imminent arrival of 17 infected individuals in the United States. 'We just want to make sure that the medical community understands this,' he added. 'We've been communicating the last week, as the press attention has picked up more with the public as is appropriate, given the nature of this disease.'
Passengers Prepare for Repatriation
The message comes as 17 American passengers prepare to evacuate from the MV Hondius, a luxury cruise ship that docked in Tenerife, Spain. The disembarkation process began on Sunday, with Spanish passengers being the first to leave. The operation to safely transport all 147 passengers home is expected to take approximately one week.
American travelers will be repatriated on a flight to the National Quarantine Unit in Nebraska for assessment and quarantine. Bhattacharya noted that all 17 passengers will be interviewed by the CDC, working alongside the World Health Organization, to assess their risk level. 'In this case, risk doesn't mean the risk of dying... The risk is a high risk if they have been in close contact with somebody who was symptomatic,' he explained, emphasising that the disease is difficult to transmit from person to person and requires a symptomatic individual.
Previous Cases and Protocols
Weeks earlier, seven Americans who had been on the infected ship returned to the U.S. and were identified in at least four states: California, Texas, Virginia, and Georgia. Bhattacharya stated that the protocols being followed are the same as those used successfully in a 2018 outbreak of the same hantavirus strain. He assured that the seven passengers who returned commercially were not showing symptoms and therefore could not spread the disease.
International Response
Several nations, including the U.S., Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland, and the Netherlands, are sending aircraft to repatriate passengers and crew. The WHO recommended a 42-day quarantine for those on board. Spain's health ministry confirmed that no rats were detected on the cruise ship. WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addressed the people of Tenerife, reassuring them that the outbreak is 'not another Covid' and that the current public health risk remains low.
Oceanwide Expeditions, the operator of the MV Hondius, confirmed that the vessel arrived at the port of Granadilla on Sunday and that disembarkation is underway. After all guests and limited crew have disembarked, the ship will sail to Rotterdam, Netherlands, for disinfection.
