Following the deadly Hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship Hondius, four German passengers were set to be transferred on Monday from Frankfurt am Main to their home regions in Berlin, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, and Saxony. The respective federal states and municipalities will handle the transportation, the Federal Ministry of Health announced on Monday morning in Berlin. All four passengers are "completely asymptomatic", the ministry confirmed.
The four Germans had landed in Eindhoven on Sunday aboard a Dutch aircraft, together with other affected individuals, after departing from the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife. According to the Federal Ministry of Health, they were subsequently taken to Frankfurt University Hospital, where they arrived during the night leading into Monday. Once in their home regions, the respective local health authorities will assume responsibility for their care.
According to the Federal Ministry, it is expected "that the contact persons will be isolated in home quarantine at their places of residence," likely for up to 45 days due to the long incubation period. "During the coming weeks, the contact persons will be continuously and closely monitored for symptoms, the responsible health authority will decide on the details," the ministry added.
In Berlin, the patient from the "greater Berlin area" is to be admitted to the Charité university hospital, the hospital announced. The facility's special isolation ward is specialised in treating patients with highly contagious life-threatening infectious diseases, it said. The ward is designed as a self-contained unit, allowing for safe isolation without disrupting regular hospital operations.
The individual heading to Bavaria is also to be taken to a hospital first. Arrival was expected on Monday afternoon, according to the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety. The specific city would be announced after arrival. The individual will then "go into quarantine in Bavaria as a precaution, until the incubation period of several weeks has passed."
The patient from Baden-Württemberg is apparently to be taken directly home and placed in quarantine there. The onward transport "to Baden-Württemberg into home quarantine is planned" for Monday, the state health ministry announced. The quarantine will be ordered and supervised by the responsible health authority in the Stuttgart administrative district.
"The health status will be regularly monitored during the isolation period," the ministry explained. "This includes daily symptom monitoring, if signs of illness appear, further medical steps will be initiated immediately."
How the contact person in Saxony will be handled was initially not available. The state's health ministry, when asked, referred the inquiry to the Federal Ministry of Health.
Three passengers on the ship have died from the Hantavirus in recent weeks, including one German national. Another German woman who had been in contact with her and was evacuated from the vessel several days earlier tested negative for the Hantavirus last week at Düsseldorf University Hospital. There is currently no vaccine and no treatment available for the virus, which causes severe respiratory illness.
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