All 27 on board Hondius test negative for hantavirus

Everyone still on board the cruise ship Hondius when it docked in Rotterdam on Monday morning has tested negative for the hantavirus, the health minister Sophie Hermans has told MPs.

The 25 crew members and two Dutch medics – a doctor and a nurse – were tested as soon as the ship reached a sealed-off section of the port. None had shown symptoms, Hermans said in a letter to parliament on Thursday.

The Dutch patient who had been treated at Radboudumc teaching hospital in Nijmegen has been discharged and is in self-isolation under national infection control guidelines.

The Hondius was expected to dock by midday on Monday after sailing from the Canary Islands. A specialist firm has now begun cleaning and disinfecting the vessel – work that is expected to take several days.

A small number of crew remain aboard to keep the ship running. Some Dutch crew have gone into home quarantine while foreign crew who cannot travel home directly are staying in portacabins in a quarantine zone in the port.

Cases so far

The total number of people infected with the virus linked to the cruise now stands at 11, of whom nine are confirmed and two remain classed as probable. An American passenger previously listed as a possible case has tested negative, while a Canadian passenger has tested positive in quarantine in Canada.

Around 50 people, including crew, are still split across two quarantine locations set up by the Kennemerland and Rotterdam-Rijnmond safety regions and their municipal health services (GGD). A further 12 Dutch passengers and crew are in home quarantine and in daily contact with their local municipal health services.

The Filipino crew of the Hondius will see out their full six-week quarantine in the Netherlands, on the advice of public health institute RIVM and the World Health Organization.

Hermans said the outbreak had been cited at the World Health Assembly in Geneva this week as an example of strong international cooperation. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the WHO are continuing to monitor the situation.