The Indian Embassy in Spain has reassured that the two Indian nationals serving as crew members on the Dutch-flagged expedition vessel MV Hondius are in good health and showing no symptoms, despite a rare outbreak of the Andes hantavirus aboard the ship.
According to the embassy’s statement issued on Sunday, the two individuals were safely evacuated from the vessel and transferred to the Netherlands. They will undergo quarantine there under standard international health safety protocols. The embassy noted that India’s Ambassador remains in regular contact with Spanish authorities to monitor their well-being.
The MV Hondius, which carried around 150 people from 23 countries, drew global attention after reports of eight probable hantavirus cases and three associated deaths. The ship had been held off the coast of Cape Verde before docking at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife on Sunday morning.
Health agencies, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), have designated all those on board as high-risk contacts, given the Andes strain’s limited capacity for human-to-human transmission. Repatriation flights for passengers and crew began shortly after the vessel’s arrival, with operations continuing over multiple days.
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Maria Van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist with the WHO, highlighted the multinational response during an appearance on *Fox News’ The Sunday Briefing*. She confirmed that individuals from 23 nationalities were involved and outlined the timeline for the ongoing evacuation efforts.
The Andes hantavirus stands out among other strains for its potential, albeit restricted, person-to-person spread. In response, the ECDC has advised an extended monitoring period of up to 42 days to cover the virus’s incubation window.
In India, health authorities have sought to ease concerns, describing the cases involving Indian nationals as isolated imported incidents with no sign of local transmission. Dr Naveen Kumar, Director of the ICMR-National Institute of Virology, told news agency *ANI* that hantavirus is mainly rodent-borne, keeping the risk to the broader Indian public very low. The Union Health Ministry is tracking developments via the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP).