ROTTERDAM: A luxury liner at the center of an outbreak of hantavirus reached the Dutch port of Rotterdam on Monday, marine tracking sites said, where authorities prepared quarantine arrangements for the 23 crew and two medical staff remaining on board.
The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius had been carrying around 150 passengers and crew from 23 countries when a cluster of severe respiratory illnesses was first reported to the World Health Organization on May 2.
Three people — a Dutch couple and a German national — have died since the start of the outbreak.
The vessel, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, had been stranded off Cape Verde, its intended final destination, earlier this month after authorities barred passengers from going ashore due to the outbreak. The WHO and the EU asked Spain to manage the evacuation at the Canary Islands, after which the ship departed for Rotterdam with a skeleton crew and two additional medical staff.
Local port authorities said quarantine facilities had been set up for some of the non-Dutch crew, though it was unclear if they would stay there for the full recommended 42-day quarantine period. The vessel itself was to undergo disinfection.
