A cruise ship with a hantavirus outbreak will be moved to the Canary Islands from Cape Verde, where it is currently docked, the Spanish Health Ministry announced last night.
Three passengers on the MV Hondius died after it set sail from Argentina on a transatlantic journey about a month ago.
An emergency evacuation of several infected passengers from the ship by medically equipped aircraft was also announced.
There are still 149 people on board from 23 countries and they are being subjected to "strict precautions," the ship's operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, said in a statement.
The journey to the Canary Islands will take three to four days, and it was decided that the ship would then be sent to Spain, after the World Health Organization (WHO) assessed that Cape Verde did not have the capacity to take in passengers from the ship on which the infection had broken out.
The Spanish Ministry of Health said that it has not yet been decided which port the ship will arrive at.
The cruise operator said the plan was to sail to Gran Canaria or Tenerife. The operator said the World Health Organization had explained that the operation could not be carried out in Cape Verde.
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"The Canary Islands are the closest location with the necessary capacity. Spain has a moral and legal obligation to help these people, among whom are several Spanish citizens," the operator said in a statement.
Once they arrive in the Canary Islands, the crew and passengers will be tested and examined, provided with the necessary care and then be able to begin returning to their homes, the Spanish Ministry of Health said, according to the British newspaper The Guardian on its website.
All interactions with people who were on board the MV Hondius will be carried out "in special places and with special transport specially prepared for this situation," the ministry said.
The Spanish ministry added that this is done to avoid any contact with the local population and ensure the safety of health personnel.
Two crew members, including a British doctor, require urgent medical attention and were due to be evacuated by hospital plane to the Canary Islands yesterday, the BBC reports. A third person, linked to a German national who died on board, was also due to be evacuated.
Officials are determining which passengers need urgent evacuation from Cape Verde, where the ship docked, the health ministry said.
The Institute of Public Health (IJZ) announced yesterday that there is also a Montenegrin citizen on the cruise ship, and that he is not ill and is in good health.
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