Three people who have presented symptoms of hantavirus and who are considered suspected cases have been evacuated from the cruise ship and will be transferred to the Netherlands for treatment, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced this Wednesday.
“They are already on their way to receive medical attention in the Netherlands in coordination with the WHO, the operator of the boat and the national authorities of Cape Verde, the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands itself,” said the organization’s general director, Tedros Adhanom Guebreyesus.
The person in charge assured that they are working with the cruise company to supervise the health of the passengers and crew, who totaled 147 people before the medical evacuation of the three who presented any symptoms.
The WHO reported the day before that of the three suspected cases, one corresponded to a person who had a fever, but who recovered quickly and became completely asymptomatic, despite which he must be treated and all the tests required to confirm or rule out that it was a positive case.
Tedros indicated that the monitoring and supervision of the passengers who disembarked at the different stages of the journey has also begun, before the cruise ship anchored off the coast of Cape Verde, which was its final destination and where it arrived when the infectious outbreak had already been declared.
However, the authorities of that country did not allow disembarkation because they lacked the necessary means to guarantee prevention, isolation and quarantine measures for the numerous passengers.
Likewise, Tedros emphasized that the overall risk to public health remains low. (YO)
