Tedros Reassures Tenerife as Hantavirus Outbreak Plan Moves at Granadilla
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros told the people of Tenerife that the hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius poses a low public health risk, using a direct message aimed at a voyage carrying nearly 150 people from 23 countries. Spain is set to receive the ship at Granadilla port, where passengers will be brought ashore under a controlled plan and sent home.
“this is not another COVID.” Tedros said, adding that “the current public health risk from hantavirus remains low.” He also said, “The virus aboard the MV Hondius is the Andes strain of hantavirus.”
Tedros and Prime Minister Sanchez
Tedros said the ship carries three people who have lost their lives in the outbreak, while there are no symptomatic passengers on board. A WHO expert is on the ship, and Tedros said he personally thanked Prime Minister Sanchez for Spain’s decision to receive the vessel.
The World Health Organization said the request to Spain was made under the International Health Regulations, the legally binding framework for public health events of international concern. Tedros said Tenerife was chosen because it has the medical capacity, the infrastructure, and the humanity to help the passengers reach safety.
Granadilla port operation
Spain’s authorities prepared a plan to ferry passengers ashore at the industrial port of Granadilla, then move them in sealed, guarded vehicles through a cordoned-off corridor. They will be repatriated directly to their home countries. Tedros said, “Your families will not encounter them.”
The operation is designed around the reality that nearly 150 people from 23 countries have been at sea for weeks on the MV Hondius. Jan Dobrogowski is the ship’s captain, and Tedros said he intends to travel to Tenerife to observe the operation firsthand.
What Tenerife sees next
For passengers, the immediate change is not a public arrival but a controlled transfer from ship to port to transport, with no separate onward stay in Tenerife spelled out in the WHO message. Tedros closed with a broader appeal, saying, “The best immunity any of us has is solidarity.”
