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Passengers boarded two planes in Tenerife bound for Eindhoven in the Netherlands. (AP PHOTO)<\/p>\n Passengers boarded two planes in Tenerife bound for Eindhoven in the Netherlands. (AP PHOTO)<\/p>\n
Two planes with 28 passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship, which was hit by a hantavirus outbreak, have landed in the Netherlands and a Dutch hospital \u200ctreating a hantavirus patient has quarantined 12 staffers in a preventive measure.<\/p>\n
The planes landed at Eindhoven Airport shortly after midnight on Tuesday, \u200ccarrying eight Dutch nationals. <\/p>\n
Other passengers of different nationalities will continue on to their home countries from the Netherlands, \u200cauthorities previously said.<\/p>\n
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The mishandling of samples prompted Radboudumc hospital to quarantine staff members. (EPA PHOTO)<\/p>\n
The Dutch hospital staff members were placed into preventive quarantine for six weeks after blood and urine were handled without updated and more strict protocols, the Radboudumc hospital in the city of Nijmegen said, adding the infection risk was very low and patient care continued uninterrupted.<\/p>\n
Radboudumc admitted a Hondius passenger infected with hantavirus \u200con May 7.<\/p>\n
“We \u200cwill carefully investigate \u2060the course of events to learn from this so that it can \u200bbe prevented in the future,” said Bertine Lahuis, the chair of the hospital’s executive board.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Hondius set sail for the Netherlands late on Monday evening with 25 crew as well as a doctor and a nurse. <\/p>\n
All passengers have disembarked the ship. <\/p>\n
It was expected to arrive in the Netherlands by May 17, ship owner \u2060Oceanwide Expeditions said.<\/p>\n
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All passengers are now off MV Hondius, which is expected to reach the Netherlands by May 17. (AP PHOTO)<\/p>\n
Three people – a Dutch couple and a German \u200cnational – have died \u200bsince the start of the outbreak on the ship, which is usually spread by wild rodents but \u200bcan also be \u200ctransmitted person-to-person in rare cases of close contact.<\/p>\n
The World Health Organisation on Monday said there were seven \u200bconfirmed cases of the Andes strain of the hantavirus and two other suspected cases – one person who died before being tested, and one on Tristan da Cunha, a remote South Atlantic island where \u200bthere \u200bwere no tests available.<\/p>\n
The confirmed cases \u200binclude a French passenger, who tested positive after the ship \u200cdocked in the Canary Islands on Sunday. <\/p>\n
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu on Monday said the passenger was in stable condition after her health had briefly worsened.<\/p>\n
“Our compatriot who tested positive for Hantavirus is still in intensive care in a stable condition,” he said.<\/p>\n
One of 14 Spaniards quarantining at a military hospital in Madrid has tested \u200bpositive for the virus, the Spanish health ministry said on Monday evening, adding the patient presented no symptoms \u2060and further tests were being done before a definitive result was announced.<\/p>\n