Today with David McCullagh
The return home – plans underway to get Hantavirus ship goers repatriated
07 May 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What recent developments have occurred in the Hantavirus situation?
though a significant development in the Hantavirus story. A Dutch woman has been admitted to a hospital in Amsterdam after showing possible symptoms of a Hantavirus infection, the Dutch Health Ministry has said. Dutch broadcaster RTL said the woman was a stewardess at Dutch airline KLM who had been in contact with a woman who died from a Hantavirus infection in Johannesburg.
For the latest, I'm joined by Shenai Bostas, journalist in the Netherlands. Shenai, Good morning.
Yeah, good morning.
What can you tell us about the condition of this woman who's been hospitalised?
We haven't heard anything more other than that she seems to be taken into the Amsterdam UMC, which is a specialist medical hospital in Amsterdam. So that's all we've heard so far.
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Chapter 2: How did the Dutch woman contract Hantavirus?
The news just came out this morning that she's been taken to hospital.
And apparently she was in contact with a woman who died in Johannesburg from a hantavirus infection.
Yeah, that's right. So it looks like the Dutch woman of 69 who died of the Hantavirus left this ship, the cruise ship Hondius, at St Helena with 40 other people. She then flew to Johannesburg on the 24th of April. And then on the 26th, she tried to fly to Amsterdam on this KLM flight, it appears, and was too sick to fly. And that was when she had contact with this stewardess.
So the question really is, how many people have these people come into contact with and why was it not reported for a whole week?
Yeah. And presumably the other people that were on that flight, there'll be contact tracing going on with them.
That's right. When the World Health Organization came out with a press release earlier this week, they said that their first priority was to contact people who the Dutch woman, the 69 who died, was on a flight with on her way to Johannesburg. But it's a very worrying signal if a stewardess has become sick.
Yeah, those 40 passengers you mentioned who disembarked the ship in Santa Helena, where the ship made a stop before it got to Cape Verde, where it is at the moment, where are they, do we know?
We don't know, and that's the effort from the World Health Organisation is trying to trace these people, who they've been in contact with, where they are now. And it's still very unclear how infectious this virus is. It does seem to pass human-to-human transmission. Some reports have said it's not as contagious as the coronavirus, but clearly it is contagious.
I mean, the Netherlands would be very well prepared to deal with cases like this in terms of having the health facilities in isolation and everything that's required.
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Chapter 3: What measures are being taken for contact tracing and public health safety?
I don't think we have quite as many beds as Belgium. Belgium seems to be the world leader in this. But no, no, the medical care in the Netherlands is excellent. But there is a question about why it took them so long to report that these problems happened.
If this woman was disembarked on the 26th of April, why was there no report until a week later when the UK reported this to the World Health Organization?
Okay, plenty of questions. Shenai Bastas, journalist in the Netherlands, thank you very much for joining me. Well, the MV Hondias, the ship at the centre of the outbreak, is currently on its way to the Canary Islands after days spent in limbo off the coast of Cape Verde.
A number of passengers have already been removed for treatment or repatriated, but most passengers, including two Irish nationals, remain on board. The ship is due to dock in Tenerife in the next three days, but many questions remain about how the evacuation of the remaining passengers will be handled, what quarantine period is needed and how the repatriation process will be carried out.
To explain, the protocols usually put in place for incidents... of this nature and to get a wider picture of the situation. I'm joined by Thomas Hoffman, the Head of Emergency Preparedness and Response at the European Centre for Disease Control, and by Dr Scott Walken from the Irish College of GPs, who is Lead for Infection Control and also a GP based in Mayo. Good morning to you both.
Thomas, I might go to you first. How concerning is the news that a stewardess has been admitted to hospital in Amsterdam with possible hantavirus symptoms?
Yes, good morning. Well, I cannot say much more about this woman in the Netherlands than you have mentioned before. That's also what we heard. We have not been able yet to have any further discussion with the Netherlands about this case.
Okay, but obviously you'll be following up on that in due course. Now, meanwhile, the ship and the ECDC, European Centre for Disease Control Experts, has boarded the ship. Can you tell us about what their experience on board has been? What have they found?
Yes, yesterday an expert boarded the ship and so far he has been supporting the crew, of course, to set up safe procedures for this onward journey to the Canary Islands. He's, of course, also interviewing each passenger to really get a clearer picture about how could the transmission happen, how did the ship sail over the last weeks and collecting all this data.
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Chapter 4: How is the European Centre for Disease Control responding to the outbreak?
How can that be done safely?
Yes, it's of course the most important question at this point. We are now working hard with all affected member states, with partner organisations, with WHO, to establish a protocol, to develop a protocol for this disembarkment. We still have some time for this, and we will work very intensely over the next two days.
Okay, and how will people be repatriated to their home countries? I mean, can they fly on commercial flights? Has a decision been made on that yet?
No, no decision has been made on that yet. It also depends on the policies of the home country of those passengers. Some passengers might be repatriated immediately. Some others, there will be different procedures and we need to look into the nationalities of all those passengers to really make a tailored protocol for everyone.
And presumably, if anybody has any symptoms when they disembark, will they be treated in Tenerife? Will they be brought to the Spanish mainland or will they be sent home, do you think?
Yes, that's what we are discussing and preparing for with Spain. There will be a triaging, there will be a screening upon this embarkation. And of course, anyone who would show any symptoms will stay in Spain, will get treatment there. And then, yes, as discussed before, for anyone who does not have any symptoms, then these protocols which we're going to develop will then apply.
I'm looking at the ECDC's risk assessment that was issued yesterday, I think, and it says that the Andean virus, the Andes variant of Hantavirus, does not transmit easily, so it is unlikely that it would cause many cases or a widespread outbreak in the community if infection prevention and control measures are applied. Is that still the ECDC's assessment of the situation?
Yes, that's still the assessment. I mean, as much as we know about the hunter virus and also this specific strain of the hunter virus, usually it transmits only from animals to humans. Only this strain, this understrain, can transmit also from humans to humans. But then only when very close contact is given. I mean, as we know, the ship has been sailing now for five weeks.
We saw maybe, if you include the case, the recent case now, something like seven or eight cases after five weeks of sailing in a confined space in a cruise ship. So it confirms our hypothesis that it's really not very transmissible.
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Chapter 5: What protocols are being established for repatriation of passengers?
Okay, but the air stewardess with suspected symptoms, if that does turn out to be an infection, that would presumably change the calculus a bit.
Well, I mean, yes, there can of course, I mean, we expect that there will be further cases. already now, maybe from passengers who disembarked earlier, also maybe still in the future more. But it's unlikely that those cases transmit further because the human-to-human transmission remains rare for the hantavirus. strain.
Okay, Thomas Hoffman, ECDC Head of Emergency Preparedness and Response. Thank you so much for joining us and best of luck with your preparations over the coming days. As I say, I'm also joined by Dr Scott Walken from the Irish College of GPs who is the lead for infection control, also a GP based in Mayo. Morning, Scott.
Good morning to you, David.
Would you be a bit worried about this Amsterdam case if it turns out to be a hantavirus?
You know, I think you put your finger on it there, David. You know, we don't even know at this point if it is hantavirus. So people, of course, unfortunately, are admitted to hospital all the time with various conditions. And hantavirus, while it's a possibility, it's also possible that it's something completely unrelated.
So I think because we're early in this situation, we just need more information to know what's going on with that.
Absolutely. And I suppose part of the problem is that the symptoms are a bit nonspecific, aren't they?
Yes. So like very many viruses, the initial symptoms tend to be flu-like symptoms. So fevers, aches and pains, just feeling terrible, out of energy. So you're right. But if anybody... It demonstrates those symptoms.
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Chapter 6: How will the disembarkation process be managed for passengers?
And of course, that's what's happening at the moment. You know, they're collecting the information from the passengers aboard as we speak.
Yeah. Now, Thomas was saying it's really up to each individual country how they handle it. We know there are two Irish nationals on board. Thankfully, as far as we know, they're still in good health, which is great. How do you think Ireland will deal with their return home?
so because i mean of course it's correct to say that each sovereign nation uh will uh determine exactly how they will respond uh but there's very close coordination across europe and and indeed globally about managing these situations so through the european early warning response system uh these alerts go out and a plan about how to manage them so yes the ireland will have
sovereignty about exactly how they do it, but it's done in very close collaboration with advice from the European Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization. So the two main offices in Ireland that look after this and coordinate it would include the Health Protection Surveillance Center and the National Health Protection Office.
So they will be developing protocols and have been developing protocols. And there are already protocols in place for the management of high consequence infectious diseases. which would include recourse to the National Isolation Unit in the Mater Hospital if necessary.
So a lot of those protocols are in place and they just need to be tweaked and adapted for the particular situation with hantavirus. And that nuance is being worked on at the moment.
Okay, and I suppose the really important issue here is the incubation period. Do we know with hantavirus how long that incubation period is?
So there are various hantaviruses, but the Andean version is the typical incubation period is around about two weeks, but that can extend out a bit longer, even to five or six weeks.
Okay, so you'd want to be monitoring people for that length of time after they've left the ship, presumably?
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Chapter 7: What is the current assessment of the risk of Hantavirus transmission?
So the treatment largely is about managing, supporting the person until their immune system fights off the infection. So if there's breathing problems, as there can be with this particular variant, their breathing is supported with oxygen and with other medical technology. So it's largely supportive treatment.
Okay, and there's no vaccine against it or anything like that as yet?
There's no vaccine, no. No, that's correct.
OK, well, listen, all of the medical profession will be keeping a close eye on this. But thank you for that update. Scott Walken of the Irish College of GPs, lead for infection control and Mayo GP. And before that, Thomas Hoffman of the European Centre for Disease Control.
Chapter 8: What treatment options are available for Hantavirus infection?
Thank you very much. Both of you very much.