Deadly cruise ship rat virus reaches Switzerland as Canary Islands refuses to let vessel dock after three died aboard and Cape Verde turned it away 

A man who had been onboard the luxury cruise ship stricken by a deadly hantavirus outbreak is being treated in Zurich after developing symptoms following his return to Switzerland. 

The outbreak of the rare, rat-borne illness that has a 40 per cent mortality rate has left three people dead and several others seriously ill. The ship remains anchored in the Atlantic off Cape Verde but will eventually dock in the Canary Islands. 

The Swiss government said in a statement on Wednesday that the man and his wife had returned to Switzerland at the end of April following a trip to South America. 

They had been passengers on board the cruise, but the man only began experiencing symptoms after he returned home. 

The Federal Office of Public Health said: ‘After experiencing symptoms of the illness, the patient went to the University Hospital of Zurich. He had previously consulted his family doctor by telephone. He was immediately placed in isolation.’ 

His wife is currently not experiencing any symptoms, but has been placed in isolation ‘for safety reasons,’ local media has reported. 

Authorities are also investigating whether the man has had any recent contact with other people, but have assured that the risk to the general public is low.

The infection of a man in Switzerland comes as the leader of Spain‘s Canary Islands expressed his opposition to allowing the cruise to dock on the archipelago, fearing a possible outbreak in the community. 

A flight scheduled to evacuate the ship’s sick British doctor to the Canary Islands was cancelled, a source close to the regional presidency told AFP, adding that officials lack sufficient information about the potential risks tied to the ship’s planned arrival in the islands from Cape Verde.

On Wednesday, the president of the Canaries, Fernando Clavijo, told COPE radio station that he had requested an ‘urgent meeting’ with the Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sanchez, saying that the decision to allow the cruise ship to dock on Canarian territory was not based on ‘any technical criteria.’

He added that there is ‘insufficient information to maintain a message of calm and guarantee the safety of the Canary Island population.’

Clavijo also criticised the Spanish government for its ‘institutional disloyalty’ and lack of professionalism for failing to keep him informed. 

He also reproached the Minister of Health, Mónica García, for not providing him with explanations about the criteria followed by the World Health Organisation.

‘I cannot allow it to enter the Canary Islands,’ he insisted. 

Earlier on Wednesday, Spanish state broadcaster TVE reported the cruise ship was set to dock at the Canary Island of Tenerife, citing sources from the country’s health ministry. 

Following the Canary Islands’ refusal, it was confirmed today that two seriously ill crew members – including the British doctor – were evacuated from the ship, with the WHO chief confirming that ‘the overall public health risk remains low.’

‘Three suspected hantavirus case patients have just been evacuated from the ship and are on their way to receive medical care in the Netherlands,’ Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.

The patients are a 56-year-old Briton, a 41-year-old Dutchman and a 65-year-old German.

The German national will be brought to a hospital in the German city of Duesseldorf for testing, Bild reported on Wednesday, adding that the woman presented no symptoms. 

Spain’s health ministry has previously said the ship was due to arrive at the Islands in ‘three to four days’, adding that upon arrival, ‘crew and passengers will be duly examined, cared for, and transferred to their respective countries.’ It is unclear which port the ship will dock at.

The health ministry said the WHO had explained that the Canary Islands were ‘the closest place with the necessary capabilities’ medically.

Cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions said its plan was for the ship to sail north ‘to the Canary Islands, either Gran Canaria or Tenerife, which will take three days of sailing’. 

The MV Hondius has been at the centre of an international health scare since Saturday, when the WHO was informed that the rare disease – usually spread from infected rodents, typically through urine, droppings and saliva – was suspected of being behind the deaths of three of its passengers.