Madrid, May 9 (IANS). World Health Organization (WHO) Secretary General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Saturday that he has reached Spain. According to Tedros, he will monitor the process of safely disembarking the crew and passengers from the MV Hondius in Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Along with him, government officials will also participate in this.
Earlier, WHO Chief gave information about reaching Spain on social media platform X. “I have arrived in Spain, where I will travel to Tenerife with senior government officials to oversee the process of safely disembarking the passengers, crew and health experts from the MV Hondius cruise ship,” he said.
He also clarified that “at present, no person with symptoms of Hantavirus has been found on the ship.” Tedros said the threat to the Canary Islands and the rest of the world remains “low”.
Three passengers aboard the MV Hondius, a Dutch couple and a German woman, have died, while several others have tested positive. This disease usually spreads through rats.
Health officials had said that Andes virus has been found in the infected people, which is the only type of Hanta virus that can spread from human to human. This has increased concern at the international level. The Dutch-flagged ship carrying about 150 people is expected to arrive in Tenerife on Sunday. After this the passengers will be sent to their countries through special flights.
Like Tedros, the World Health Organization had said on Friday that Hantavirus poses little threat to the general public.
WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told reporters, “This is a dangerous virus, but mainly for the individual who is actually infected. The general public is not at much risk. This virus is not contagious enough to spread easily from person to person.”
According to WHO, six out of eight suspected cases had been confirmed on Friday but after this no new suspected case was reported on the ship.
–IANS
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