TENERIFE: Spanish authorities have launched a large-scale medical and security operation in Tenerife as the cruise ship MV Hondius, linked to a hantavirus outbreak, approaches Granadilla after nearly a month at sea. The outbreak has killed three passengers among 87 passengers and 60 crew members from 24 countries.

A one-nautical-mile exclusion zone has been enforced, and the ship will remain offshore without docking. More than 100 passengers will be evacuated in controlled phases, separated by nationality and flown to their home countries under a coordinated response involving 23 countries.

Spanish nationals will be sent to Madrid for mandatory quarantine.

Medical teams will first board the vessel to screen all passengers, with no new symptomatic cases reported so far. Repatriation flights, including medically equipped aircraft, are on standby.

The World Health Organization has described the response as well coordinated and says the risk of wider spread remains low, though it has stressed strict containment due to the virus’s long incubation period and rare human transmission in this Andes variant.

No vaccine or specific antiviral treatment is available.