San Francisco Frontiers - WHO says hantavirus risk low as countries prep repatriation flights

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.

The only hantavirus strain that can transmit from person to person -- Andes virus -- has been confirmed among those who have tested positive, fuelling international concern.

The Dutch-flagged vessel, which has around 150 people on board, is expected to arrive at the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife on Sunday. Special flights will then take passengers to their home countries.

"This is a dangerous virus, but only to the person who's really infected, and the risk to the general population remains absolutely low," WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told reporters.

A picture was emerging from MV Hondius where "even those who have been sharing cabins don't seem to be both infected in some cases", when one has fallen sick, he added.

"The virus is not that contagious that it easily jumps from person to person," he said.

The WHO said Friday there were five confirmed and three suspected cases of the virus, with an update due later. There are no suspected cases remaining on the ship.

- KLM flight attendant negative -

A flight attendant on the Dutch airline KLM, who came into contact with an infected passenger from the cruise ship and later showed mild symptoms, tested negative for hantavirus, the WHO said Friday.

The passenger -- the wife of the first person to die in the outbreak -- had briefly been on a plane bound from Johannesburg to the Netherlands on April 25, but was removed before take-off.

She died the following day in a Johannesburg hospital.

Lindmeier said the flight attendant testing negative was "good news", as it showed that someone could come into contact with an infected person and still not catch the virus.

Spanish authorities said a woman on that flight was being tested for hantavirus, having developed symptoms at home in eastern Spain. She is in isolation in hospital, said health secretary Javier Padilla.

"This is a pretty unlikely case," he told reporters: someone "two rows behind the person who died with hantavirus".

- Relief on board: YouTuber -

The MV Hondius left Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1 for a cruise across the Atlantic Ocean to Cape Verde.

Three suspected cases, including two crew members who later tested positive, were evacuated from Cape Verde to the Netherlands.

The third person tested negative, German authorities said Friday, but would remain under observation.

Two Dutch healtcare workers are now on board the ship: an expert from the European Centres for Disease Control and a WHO representative conducting a risk assessment.

YouTuber Kasem Ibn Hattuta, who is travelling on the Hondius, said passengers were reassured that doctors had joined the ship.

"We finally left Cape Verde which was a relief for everyone on board, specially knowing that our sick colleagues are finally getting the medical care they need," he said in a statement.

Everyone was keeping in high spirits, he added: "People are smiling and taking the situation calmly."

People were wearing masks indoors and keeping their distance from others, he said.

- Repatriation plans -

Britain and the United States have announced repatriation flights.

"Everyone involved, both in the Netherlands and abroad, is working hard to organise the arrival of this cruise ship in a safe manner," Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten told journalists.

"A priority in this regard is, of course, the health of the passengers and ensuring that the virus does not get the chance to spread further."

Spanish authorities have said the ship will anchor off Tenerife and will not be allowed to dock.

Passengers will be transferred to shore on a smaller vessel then by bus to the airport.

The evacuation must happen between Sunday and Monday due to likely adverse weather conditions afterwards, the Canarian regional government said.

Dockers in Tenerife protested Friday against the arrival of the ship.

The cruise called at several remote British islands in the South Atlantic.

British health authorities said Friday there was a suspected case on Tristan da Cunha, one of the world's most isolated settlements with around 220 people.

L.Lopez--SFF