Reuters
source: reuters
A luxury liner at the centre of an outbreak of hantavirus docked at the Dutch port of Rotterdam on Monday, where authorities were disembarking the remaining 25 crew members and two medical staff and planned to cremate a German woman who died.
The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius cruise was to be disinfected.
It had been carrying around 150 passengers and crew from 23 countries when a cluster of severe respiratory illnesses was first reported to the World Health Organization on May 2.
Three people have died. The bodies of a Dutch couple have been repatriated, while a German victim was to be cremated in the Netherlands with her ashes then sent home.
Including the three deaths, there have been eight confirmed and two probable cases on board, according to WHO.
Hantavirus is primarily spread by rodents but can be transmitted between people in rare cases and after prolonged, close contact.
Incubation can last about six weeks.
There is no specific treatment for infection.
The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) said that none of the people coming off the boat were showing symptoms.
