Passengers aboard a cruise ship hit by a deadly Hantavirus outbreak that triggered international concern began returning home Sunday from the Canary Islands as part of a complex repatriation effort.
Three passengers from the MV Hondius – a Dutch husband and wife and a German woman – have died, while others have fallen sick with the rare disease, which usually spreads among rodents.
No vaccines or specific treatments exist for hantavirus, which is endemic in Argentina, where the ship departed in April.
But health officials have stressed that the risk to global public health is low and have downplayed comparisons to a repeat of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The final flight to evacuate most of the ship's nearly 150 passengers and crew will leave for Australia Monday, before the ship continues to the Netherlands, Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia said.
