{"id":3575,"date":"2026-05-10T13:45:34","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T13:45:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=3575"},"modified":"2026-05-10T13:45:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T13:45:34","slug":"aboard-the-hantavirus-hit-cruise-ship-some-passengers-fear-what-awaits-back-home-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=3575","title":{"rendered":"Aboard the hantavirus-hit cruise ship, some passengers fear what awaits back home"},"content":{"rendered":"

By DAVID BILLER and SUMAN NAISHADHAM<\/strong><\/p>\n

MADRID (AP) \u2014 In the days since the hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean, concern has taken hold among at least some of its Spanish passengers \u2014 but not so much because they fear contracting the illness. Rather, they are afraid of how they will be received back on land.<\/p>

Read more Fidelity laying off 1% of workforce as it evolves operations<\/a><\/p>\n

They have seen sensational news reports and devil-may-care memes ostracizing those aboard the MV Hondius, two passengers told The Associated Press by phone from the ship on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou go onto social media \u2014 they want to dynamite the boat. They want to sink the boat,\u201d a Spanish man said.<\/p>\n

He says he worries about being stigmatized as a viral vector to be avoided \u2014 or worse. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of these concerns, and another Spanish woman insisted on anonymity for the same reason.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see what\u2019s out there and you realize you\u2019re heading into the eye of a hurricane,\u201d she said. \u201cMany people forget that in here there are more than 140 passengers. In reality, there are 140 human beings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coronavirus flashbacks<\/h4>\n

A cruise ship with an outbreak has dredged up COVID-19 d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu \u2014 but it\u2019s misplaced, according to the World Health Organization. For days, WHO officials have sought to dispel comparisons between coronavirus and hantavirus, stressing that the latter poses very low risk to the general public.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is very different virus. I want to be unequivocal here,\u201d Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO\u2019s head of epidemic and pandemic preparedness, said on Thursday. \u201cThis is not the start of a COVID pandemic.\u201d<\/p>

\n<\/div>\n

Hantavirus is usually spread by the inhalation of contaminated rodent droppings and isn\u2019t easily transmitted between people. But the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases.<\/p>\n

But some are dismissing health experts \u2014 just as they did during the pandemic. Iustitia Europa, an anti-establishment Spanish group that rose to prominence by challenging COVID-era restrictions, called for the MV Hondius to be barred from reaching Spanish shores.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Canary Islands cannot become Europe\u2019s health laboratory \u2026 We demand transparency, responsibility, and protection for Spaniards to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past,\u201d it posted on X.<\/p>\n