Six people who were on board a cruise ship at the centre of a deadly hantavirus outbreak have landed in Australia.

The four Australian citizens, one permanent resident and one New Zealander arrived on a repatriation flight that left the Netherlands late Thursday, where the passengers had been waiting after disembarking the MV Hondius.

a plane can be seen landing on an airstrip

The plane touched down around 11am WST. (ABC News: Andrew O’Connor )

The plane landed at RAAF Base Pearce, about 40 kilometres north-east of Perth, where the six boarded a minibus that took them to the nearby Bullsbrook Centre for National Resilience under police escort.

Screening and quarantine

The passengers, wearing full-body protective gear, waved at reporters from the minibus.

The six had tested negative for hantavirus before the flight and were asymptomatic, but will undergo further health screening.

An ambulance is parked in a field near a wire fence

An ambulance is on stand-by for the arriving passengers  (ABC News: Andrew O’Connor )

The ABC understands the passengers were tested and processed by the Australian Border Force before their transfer to the quarantine centre.

They will quarantine there for three weeks.

The flight crew is expected to also quarantine at the facility voluntarily for two weeks.

Department of Agriculture and Fisheries staff will decontaminate the plane used for the repatriation flight.

Facility for disease control

Nestled away in Perth’s outer fringes this 500-bed facility was built during the COVID-19 pandemic as a quarantine centre, but sat idle for years. Now, a different deadly virus will see it used for its intended purpose.

What’s next for the passengers?

Health Minister Mark Butler said yesterday that further arrangements were being organised beyond the three weeks, as the incubation period for hantavirus was about 42 days.

“We’re not going to let anything happen that doesn’t align with World Health Organization (WHO) advice about the incubation period for this virus,” Mr Butler said.

The five Australians are from New South Wales and Queensland. Mr Butler said both state governments would be engaged to manage the latter half of the incubation period.

Loading…

The WHO’s latest update on the hantavirus outbreak, linked to the cruise ship, said 11 cases and three deaths had been reported.

Eight of the cases had been laboratory-confirmed, while two were deemed “probable”, and one was inconclusive.

The cruise ship MV Hondius

The cruise ship MV Hondius, affected by a hantavirus outbreak, at the port of Granadilla de Abona, in Tenerife. (Reuters: Hannah McKay)

The two latest confirmed cases were reported from France and Spain. Both people were passengers of the MV Hondius.

Loading