AN ENTIRE village has been built to quarantine the crew of the doomed MV Hondius cruise ship, plagued by the rat-carried hantavirus.
The vessel docked in the port of Rotterdam this morning for disinfection, after scores of terrified passengers were finally evacuated in Tenerife.
On board remained the 25 skeleton crew and two doctors, who brought the contagious ship to Dutch shores.
All will now be shoved in portable cabins plonked on the port in the 11th hour, in desperate attempt to stop any spread.
In theory, this is where they would have to spend the recommended 42-day quarantine period – tested and monitored daily for symptoms of the deadly rat virus.
According to the operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, no one is showing any symptoms right now.
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Occupants were seen wearing masks on the deck as the ship was escorted through the port by a tug boat and a Dutch police boat.
The body of a German woman, 78, will also be removed from the vessel -one of the three passengers killed by hantavirus.
After everyone on board has disembarked, the Dutch-flagged cruise ship – infested by rats and bugs spreading the virus – will be decontaminated.
Personal protective measures are being taken to ensure that the cleaners do not need to quarantine after the cleaning, the health ministry said in a letter to the Dutch parliament last week.
Experts assume that all 80 cabins, common areas, and frequently touched surfaces will be treated with special disinfectants.
UV light may also be used to kill any remaining viruses, Bild media outlet reported.
Virus researcher Erik Hill explains: “Common disinfectants and UV light are sufficient to kill the virus .”
It will have to be a quick turnaround as another luxury cruise is scheduled to kick off on the Hondius in just 12 days.
Public health officials will inspect the vessel before it is allowed to set sail again.
Some two dozen passengers and crew are already in quarantine in the Netherlands, after arriving in the country on a series of flights over the previous two weeks.
As many as 18 Americans are currently under observation at specialised healthcare facilities in the US designed to treat people with dangerous infectious diseases.
The hantavirus outbreak aboard the Hondius is the first known case on a cruise ship.
What is hantavirus?
THE deadly virus that has ripped through Dutch cruise ship the MV Hondius, killing three, is usually transmitted via contact with rodent droppings.
But this particular strain, known as “the Andes virus” is an alarming exception.
Only found in the mountains of Argentina and Chile, the strain is the only hantavirus that has demonstrated the ability to spread between humans.
And the strain could have a terrifying mortality of up to 40 per cent, the WHO believe.
Key signs of hantavirus include fever, muscle aches, fatigue, nausea, and the rapid-onset of breathing difficulties.
Passengers onboard the MV Hondius now face a weeks-long quarantine as officials scramble to contain the deadly outbreak.
Hantaviruses are spread by rats, through contact with their urine, droppings and saliva.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates there are 10,000 to 100,000 cases in humans every year across the world.
Symptoms range from a mild flu-like illness to major respiratory issues or internal bleeding.
Although uncommon, limited human to human transmission has been reported in previous outbreaks of Andes virus – a specific species of hantavirus.
The strain is found largely in Chile and Argentina – where the cruise ship started in March – is the only known variant that can spread through close, prolonged human-to-human contact.
The WHO confirmed that the outbreak on the cruise ship is the Andes hantavirus.
South African officials also confirmed the Andes strain had caused infections in two of the cruise passengers.
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The Dutch company that owns the cruise ship said it doesn’t foresee any changes to its operations. It has an Arctic cruise setting sail from Keflavik, Iceland, on May 29.
The vessel had been stranded off Cape Verde, its intended final destination, earlier this month after authorities barred passengers from going ashore due to the outbreak.
The WHO and the EU asked Spain to manage the evacuation at the Canary Islands, after which the ship departed for Rotterdam.
Frances Pasteur Institute said on Saturday it has fully sequenced the Andes virus detected in a French passenger from the ship and found that it matched viruses already known in South America.
So far there is no evidence of new characteristics that would make it more transmissible or more dangerous.
There is no vaccine or specific antiviral treatment for hantavirus, making prevention the most effective measure.
The WHO has called for calm and ruled out the risk of a global epidemic.
A spokesperson insisted that the risk of contagion depends on close proximity, “practically nose-to-nose.”
