Rotterdam, Netherlands - A cruise ship that sparked global alarm after a deadly outbreak of hantavirus ended its voyage by docking in Rotterdam harbor on Monday, with the skeleton crew facing weeks of quarantine.
Twenty-five crew and two medical staff had been left on board, some of whom could be seen wearing blue hard hats and white face masks as the ship made its final approach into port for disembarkation and disinfection.
A first group disembarked hours later, dressed in white hazmat gowns and clutching bags and boxes of belongings.
The ship, operated by Dutch company Oceanwide Expeditions, made headlines after three passengers died from hantavirus – a rare virus for which no vaccines nor specific treatments exist.
The World Health Organization has scrambled to reassure the world that the outbreak was not a repeat of the Covid pandemic, stressing that contagion was very rare.
However, the virus has an incubation period of several weeks, meaning more cases from the ship's occupants could emerge in the future, the WHO has warned.
Hantavirus has been confirmed in seven patients, with one other probable case, according to an AFP tally from official sources.
The most recent positive test came from Canada in a patient who was on the Hondius, officials said late Sunday.