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Hantavirus Cruise Vessel Docks in Rotterdam Under Full Quarantine
(MENAFN) A cruise ship at the center of a deadly Andean hantavirus outbreak has made port in the Netherlands, triggering an immediate quarantine and large-scale disinfection response from Dutch health authorities.
The vessel, the Hondius, pulled into the Port of Rotterdam — the country's designated quarantine hub for shipborne infectious diseases — as international media crews lined the docks to document its arrival.
Dutch public broadcaster NOS reported that 23 foreign crew members have been placed in temporary accommodation within a fenced-off section of the port. Crew members hailing from the Philippines, Ukraine, Russia, and Poland could remain confined until June 18, pending the availability of return travel to their home countries. Two Dutch crew members are quarantining separately at their own residences. A Dutch doctor and nurse accompanied the ship throughout its final voyage back to port.
All passengers aboard will undergo repeat testing following arrival, though no individuals currently on the vessel are displaying symptoms. The body of a German passenger, who died last week, remains on board.
A specialist sanitation firm has been contracted to carry out a thorough decontamination of the ship — a process expected to span roughly one week. Workers will strip and remove all bedding, manually clean every surface, and apply disinfectant spray across the entire vessel.
The outbreak first emerged in late April, when the Hondius was at sea with approximately 150 passengers and crew representing nearly 30 nationalities. Among the confirmed fatalities are a Dutch couple and a German woman — three passengers who succumbed to the virus. As of May 13, the World Health Organization had recorded 11 cases in total, eight of which were laboratory-confirmed infections.
The Andean hantavirus is primarily transmitted through exposure to rodent droppings. In contrast to the coronavirus, the pathogen does not pass readily between individuals and typically demands sustained, close-contact exposure to trigger infection.
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