No Decision Taken On Hantavirus Cruise Ship — Spain

Spain on Tuesday said it would not decide where a cruise ship with hantavirus cases would dock until epidemiological data had been analysed, casting uncertainty on the vessel’s next steps.

“Based on the epidemiological data collected from the ship during its stopover in Cape Verde, it will be decided which port of call is most appropriate,” the health ministry said in a social media post.

“Until then, the Ministry of Health will not take any decision, as we have informed the World Health Organization.”

The ministry added in a later post that it had held talks with the WHO and that “this evening an inspection of the ship will be carried out by a team of epidemiologists” to detect potential symptoms or contacts.

Spanish government spokeswoman Elma Saiz told a press conference that “everything is prepared for care, assessment and, if necessary, disinfection, if the WHO requires it,” without clarifying whether the Canary Islands would take in the ship.

The vice president of the Canaries regional government, Manuel Dominguez, said he preferred that the ship go straight to mainland Spain because it had greater resources to handle the stricken vessel.

“If it does not have to be in the Canary Islands, then that would be better, because there may be other resources on the mainland,” he said in a radio interview, adding that any decision should be taken “with all possible guarantees”.

The leader of the Atlantic archipelago’s regional government, Fernando Clavijo, told reporters in Brussels that the ship “should be taken care of where it is” or go to the Netherlands because it flies under a Dutch flag.

Two hantavirus cases have been confirmed and another five are suspected among the 147 people who were on the cruise from Ushuaia in Argentina to Cape Verde off west Africa, the WHO has said.