On the cruise ship hit by hantavirus, some fear what awaits them at home

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MADRID (AP) — 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 — but not so much because they fear contracting the illness. Rather, they are afraid of how they will be received back on land.

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.

“You go onto social media — they want to dynamite the boat. They want to sink the boat,” a Spanish man said.

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

“You see what’s out there and you realize you’re heading into the eye of a hurricane," she said. “Many people forget that in here there are more than 140 passengers. In reality, there are 140 human beings.”

A cruise ship with an outbreak has dredged up COVID-19 déjà vu — but it’s 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.

“This is very different virus. I want to be unequivocal here,” Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s head of epidemic and pandemic preparedness, said on Thursday. “This is not the start of a COVID pandemic.”

Hantavirus is usually spread by the inhalation of contaminated rodent droppings and isn’t easily transmitted between people. But the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases.

But some are dismissing health experts — 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.

“The Canary Islands cannot become Europe's health laboratory ... We demand transparency, responsibility, and protection for Spaniards to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past,” it posted on X.

Others defaulted to defensive footing. The Canary Islands regional president, Fernando Clavijo, told Spain’s El País newspaper Friday he wouldn't be at ease until the ship leaves Spain and all passengers were headed to their respective quarantine destinations. Madrid’s regional leader Isabel Díaz Ayuso on Thursday said she disagreed with the decision to transfer the ship’s 14 Spanish passengers to a military hospital in the Spanish capital, where authorities have said they will have to quarantine.

“We’ve seen news that no one wants this boat. That it’s a boat of infected people, a boat of multimillionaires, full of rats,” the Spanish man said. “Society is in some way contaminated with a lot of noise and a lot of lies.”

He said he was taking some solace in Spanish authorities’ assurance of official escorts upon their arrival in Tenerife, where on Thursday port workers protested, citing lack of information provided about safety measures to be implemented.

The more than 140 passengers and crew could begin disembarking as early as Sunday.

The Spanish man said he was put at ease about the virus by a group of specialists who boarded while the ship was still off the coast of Cape Verde and explained the rarity of human-to-human transmission.

Passengers’ day-to-day routine has been tranquil, he added. Those who venture from their cabins into common areas lounge about reading, or attend talks — all the while wearing masks and observing social distancing. Some join a 7:30 a.m. exercise group on one of the upper decks.

Others go out for air and try to spot birds; many had hoped to return from some of the most remote places on Earth with photos of wildlife, not find themselves the focus of a glaring global spotlight.

Even so, both Spanish passengers said they would go on another cruise in the future.

“For me, personally, traveling is a means to ... live out what I’m passionate about — which is observing nature and documenting nature," she said. "Of course I would go on a cruise again.”

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Biller reported from Rome. AP photographer Emilio Morenatti contributed from Barcelona.