Cruise ship with hantavirus outbreak to sail to Canary Islands

Spain's health ministry said the MV Hondius is expected to arrive within three to four days. Cruise ship with hantavirus outbreak to sail to Canary Islands Watch: Inside the cruise ship at the centre of the hantavirus outbreak Do viruses spread more easily on cruise ships? Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. people in hazmat suits on a small boat seen from above Watch: Passenger video from inside the cruise ship at the centre of the hantavirus outbreak Aerial view of deck of MV Hondius cruise ship A Dutch cruise ship with a hantavirus outbreak on board is to sail to the Canary Islands, Spain's health ministry has said. Two crew members, including the ship's reportedly British doctor, require urgent medical care and were due to be evacuated on a hospital aircraft to the Canary Islands on Tuesday. A third person linked to a German national who died was also due to be evacuated. Officials were determining which passengers required urgent evacuation from Cape Verde, where the ship was docked, the health ministry added. Three passengers who were aboard the MV Hondius have died, after it set sail from Argentina on its voyage across the Atlantic Ocean around a month ago. Some 149 people from 23 countries remained aboard under "strict precautionary measures", the ship's operator Oceanwide Expeditions said. Aside from the British crew member, there are 22 other British nationals on board. The remaining passengers would go on to the Canary Islands, where they were expected to arrive within three to four days, the health ministry said, adding that the exact port of arrival had not yet been decided. Cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions said its plan was to sail to "Gran Canaria or Tenerife". It said the World Health Organization (WHO) had explained that Cape Verde "cannot carry out this operation". "The Canary Islands are the closest location with the necessary capabilities. Spain has a moral and legal obligation to assist these people, among whom are several Spanish citizens," the statement added. Watch: Do viruses spread more easily on cruise ships? Split screen of a woman wearing a black shirt sitting on a red couch and cruise ship in the ocean After arriving at the Canary Islands, crew and passengers would be examined, given whatever care was needed and would then be able to begin their journeys back home, Spain's health ministry said in a statement. All interactions with those who had been on the MV Hondius would happen in "special spaces and transports specifically set up for this situation", the ministry said. This is to help in "avoiding all contact with the local population and ensuring the safety of healthcare personnel", it added. Jake Rosmarin wears a red puffer jacket on a boat Cruise passengers tell of life on board stranded ship after hantavirus outbreak Aerial view of a cruise ship in a large body of blue water What is hantavirus? Cruise ship outbreak explained BBC journalist Ottilie Mitchell where a blue jumper sitting on a red couch Hantavirus is usually spread from rodents, but the WHO has said it could have spread among "really close contacts" aboard the ship. It stressed the risk to the public was low. , but the WHO has said it could have spread among "really close contacts" aboard the ship. It stressed the risk to the public was low. Seven cases of hantavirus - two confirmed and five suspected - have so far been identified, according to the latest WHO update. The two confirmed cases are a Dutch woman, who is among those who died, and a 69-year-old UK national who was evacuated to South Africa for medical treatment. The woman's husband also died but he is not a confirmed case, nor is the German national who passed away on 2 May. Map tracing the route of the cruise ship MV Hondius across the South Atlantic, with numbered points marking key events. The ship leaves Ushuaia, Argentina on 1 April, a first passenger dies on 11 April, the first passenger's wife leaves the ship at St Helena on 24 April and dies in Johannesburg on 26 April, and another sick man is flown to Johannesburg on 27 April, another passenger dies on board on 2 May, and the ship arrives at Cape Verde on 3 May. The route is shown with a red line, dates and notes in text boxes, and reference locations including South Africa, the Canary Islands, and the South Atlantic Ocean. Thiago Ávila and Saif Abu Keshek were detained by Israeli forces who intercepted the flotilla's boats near Greece last week. The Civil Guard found between 30,000 and 45,000kg of the drug on a freighter headed to Libya. Souring relations between Europe and the US have reared their Medusa-like head again, writes the BBC's Europe editor. The facility at Lochee Med­ical Centre in Dundee is part of a network of clinics where patients have access to GP-led care without an appointment. A postnatal choir leader says professional dog walkers pay less to use the city's parks. Young patients are being placed out of area as the West of England unit stays closed. Families call for research into progressive supranuclear palsy after loved ones were misdiagnosed. Alastair Munro's surgery features on the series Surgeons: At the Edge of Life on BBC Two on Wednesday.