Planes with passengers from liner with hantavirus outbreak land in the Netherlands

Two planes carrying 28 passengers from the cruise liner MV Hondius, where a hantavirus outbreak occurred, landed in the Netherlands on Tuesday.

Western media report that passengers who are not Dutch nationals will go for treatment in their home countries.

Twelve employees of the Dutch medical center at the university in the city of Nijmegen were placed in a six-week preventive quarantine, as it turned out that updated strict protocols were not followed when working with test samples. The hospital reported that the risk of infection for employees remains "very low."

According to the latest data, three passengers of MV Hondius died from hantavirus: a married couple from the Netherlands, as well as a German citizen.

About ten people tested positive for hantavirus. It was noted that the deceased woman and a Briton who is in the intensive care unit in South Africa had the Andes strain of hantavirus identified. Only this type of hantavirus is transmitted from person to person, the country's Ministry of Health emphasized. Western media reported that this strain is common in Latin America, including Argentina, where the cruise began.

Source: Interfax.ru