Salvador Peiró
Epidemiologist, researcher in the Health Services and Pharmacoepidemiology Research Area of the Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research of the Valencian Community (FISABIO) and Director of Gaceta Sanitaria, the scientific journal of the Spanish Society of Public Health and Health Administration (SESPAS)
The arrival of the cruise ship carrying potential contacts of hantavirus cases – all of whom are currently asymptomatic – is being handled with the utmost caution. Given the way the operation has been organised (specific protocols for disembarkation, isolation, contact tracing and repatriation), the risk to the general public, both in Tenerife and elsewhere, can be considered virtually non-existent.
In the coming days, it is still possible that new cases may emerge in people (closely linked to known cases) who were previously exposed during the cruise or on a flight carrying symptomatic cases. No infections are expected to result from the operation carried out in the Canary Islands or from the isolation measures.