WHO Chief Heads to Tenerife as Hantavirus-Hit Ship Approaches

The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is traveling to Tenerife to oversee the arrival of the MV Hondius on Sunday, following a hantavirus outbreak on board that has killed three people.

In a rare personal message to residents, Tedros urged calm, stating: "This is not another COVID." The ship carries the Andes strain of hantavirus, the only strain known to transmit between humans.

Spanish authorities have established a strict protocol. The ship will dock at the industrial port of Granadilla, away from residential areas. Passengers will be transported in sealed, guarded vehicles through a cordoned-off corridor and repatriated directly to their home countries.

Eight cases have been linked to the ship, six laboratory-confirmed. No symptomatic passengers remain on board. A WHO expert is already on the vessel.

Tedros praised Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and the people of Tenerife for fulfilling a "moral duty" to assist the 23 countries represented among passengers and crew.