The cruise vessel “MV Hondius”, where hantavirus was detected, is scheduled to arrive at the port of Rotterdam on May 18.
According to the Reuters news agency, Dutch authorities are preparing measures to disinfect the ship, as well as quarantine conditions for the 25 remaining crew members and two medical staff on board.
Special quarantine facilities have already been arranged for some foreign crew members, although it is still unclear whether they will serve the recommended 42-day isolation period there.
The first reports of a cluster of severe respiratory illnesses on board were submitted to the World Health Organization on May 2. Nine infection cases have been recorded on the vessel; six of them were laboratory-confirmed as hantavirus infections, all identified as Andes virus (ANDV). No new fatalities have been reported since May 2.
Humans are typically infected with hantavirus through contact with rodents carrying the virus, including exposure to urine, feces, or saliva, or by inhaling contaminated dust particles.
