A CRUISE ship struck by a deadly virus outbreak has been granted permission to dock in Spain.
The MV Hondius, which has been quarantined off Cape Verde since Sunday after three passengers died from suspected hantavirus, is expected to arrive in Tenerife within three to four days, according to reports.
It comes amid fears that the disease, which is usually spread by rodents, may have been transmitted by human-to-human contact – with the WHO scrambling to trace 80 people who were exposed after flying with an infected ship passenger.
In a letter thanking Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez, the World Health Organisation (WHO) urged Spanish authorities to allow passengers to disembark ‘as soon as possible’ to prevent further infections.
Passengers will undergo medical checks before returning home, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, adding Cape Verde was unable to receive them.
“Spain has a moral and legal obligation to assist these people, among whom there are also several Spanish citizens,” the Spanish Ministry of Health said.
It comes after eight people in total fell ill on board, including a British national currently in intensive care in Johannesburg, as well as two crew members.
Spain has also agreed to treat one of them, a Dutch doctor, reportedly in urgent need of care.
A WHO investigation confirmed three of the eight cases through laboratory testing, leaving the remaining 147 passengers stranded onboard pending further probes.
One of the victims, a 69-year-old Dutch woman, was flown out of St Helena to receive treatment in South Africa, but later died at a Johannesburg hospital.
The WHO is now attempting to trace all of the plane’s 82 passengers and six crew amid fears of ‘person-to-person transmission between people in close contact, according to epidemics management director Maria Van Kerkhove.
The ship departed Argentina on March 20 and was en route to the Canary Islands when it was halted off Cape Verde following the outbreak.
Health officials there refused permission for passengers to disembark over fears of further spread.
The Hondius has since remained off the capital, Praia, with two air ambulances arriving today to evacuate three seriously ill passengers.
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