Spain-Hantavirus/WHO
Spain-Hantavirus/WHO
Dateline : May 12/10, 2026/File
Location : Spain
Duration : 1'25
FILE: Geneva, Switzerland - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. WHO headquarters
2. WHO logo
3. WHO headquarters
FILE: Geneva, Switzerland - Date Unknown (UNifeed - No access Chinese mainland/Not for sale)
4. Various of man entering World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters, WHO logo
Island of Tenerife, Spain - May 10, 2026 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
5. Various of Hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius, other vessels
6. Tents at evacuation site
7. Various of security guard, medical workers
8. Various of medical workers, security guard standing by shuttle buses
9. Various of medical worker getting on shuttle bus, shuttle bus leaving evacuation site
FILE: Madrid, Spain - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
10. Various of Cybele Palace, traffic
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that 11 hantavirus cases have now been linked to the cruise ship MV Hondius, including nine confirmed infections of the Andes strain of the virus and two suspected cases.
The ship was carrying around 150 passengers and crew members from more than 20 countries, including 38 from the Philippines, 23 from Britain, 17 from the United States, 14 from Spain, 11 from the Netherlands, eight from Germany, and five each from France and Ukraine.
Speaking at a joint press conference with the Spanish government in Madrid, WHO officials warned that additional confirmed cases could still emerge due to the virus's long incubation period, despite the completion of evacuation operations from the vessel, and urged countries to follow its epidemic prevention and control guidelines.
The WHO also said no new deaths had been reported since May 2.
All confirmed and suspected cases linked to the vessel had been isolated, minimizing the risk of further transmission, it said, adding that there is currently no indication of a larger-scale outbreak.
In related developments, Spain's Ministry of Health announced in a social media update on Tuesday that a Spanish passenger evacuated from the ship had tested positive again after a second hantavirus test, confirming the infection.
The ministry did not specify whether the patient had contracted the Andes virus strain.
Meanwhile, the operator of the ship said the vessel departed on Monday on its return voyage to the Netherlands. Only 25 crew members, along with one doctor and one nurse, remain onboard after all passengers had disembarked.
The ship is expected to arrive in Rotterdam on May 17.
Hantavirus was first isolated and named in 1978 after the Hantan River in the Republic of Korea (ROK), where an outbreak occurred among soldiers during wartime.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), humans usually contract hantavirus through contact with infected rodents or their saliva, urine and droppings, most commonly by inhaling virus particles emitted into the air from contaminated waste. Rodent bites can also transmit the virus.
ID : 8479056
Published : 2026-05-13 03:03
Last Modified : 2026-05-13 16:53:39
Source : China Central Television (CCTV),China Global Television Network (CGTN),UNifeed
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