Patients evacuated to Netherlands following cruise ship virus outbreak

The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed the evacuation to the Netherlands of three suspected hantavirus patients from the cruise ship MV Hondius.

The evacuees include two members of the ship’s crew. The third patient being transported was closely associated with a German national suspected to have died of the disease on 2 May.

Redstar Aviation and European Air Ambulance are confirmed to have been involved in the transfer.

It follows the successful transfer of a UK national confirmed to have the disease to a hospital in South Africa.

The outbreak is believed to have killed three people so far, including a German national and a married couple from the Netherlands. The virus has been successfully identified in the Dutch woman who died. A further case was identified in Switzerland – the patient had previously been a passenger on the MV Hondius.

Flying from Cape Verde to Amsterdam

The MV Hondius has been instructed to remain in open waters. It is currently near Cape Verde.

“I can confirm on behalf of European Air Ambulance (EAA) that one of our air ambulance aircraft, a Challenger 605, has been deployed to Cape Verde since Tuesday evening following a hantavirus outbreak on board the MV Hondius cruise ship,” said Jérôme Pin, Deputy CEO and Chief Operations Officer of Fixed Wing at EAA.

“The EAA aircraft and medical crew are currently conducting the repatriation of two patients from Praia [the capital of Cape Verde] to Amsterdam. The patients were disembarked from the MV Hondius earlier this morning and are being transported under strict medical and safety protocols.”

Pin added that the company had developed experience in the transport of patients with infectious disease through its work during health crises such as the Ebola outbreak and the Covid-19 pandemic.