To the individuals of Tenerife,
My identify is Tedros, and I function the Director-Normal of the World Well being Group, the United Nations company answerable for international public well being. It’s not frequent for me to jot down on to the individuals of a single neighborhood, however at the moment I really feel it isn’t solely acceptable, it’s mandatory.
I wish to converse to you straight, not by press releases or technical briefings, however as one human being to a different, since you deserve that.
I do know you might be frightened. I do know that while you hear the phrase “outbreak” and watch a ship sail towards your shores, recollections floor that none of us have totally put to relaxation. The ache of 2020 remains to be actual, and I don’t dismiss it for a single second.
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However I want you to listen to me clearly: this isn’t one other COVID. The present public well being threat from hantavirus stays low. My colleagues and I’ve mentioned this unequivocally, and I’ll say it once more to you now.
The virus aboard the MV Hondius is the Andes pressure of hantavirus. It’s severe. Three individuals have misplaced their lives, and our hearts exit to their households. The chance to you, residing your every day life in Tenerife, is low. That is the WHO’s evaluation, and we don’t make it evenly.
Proper now, there aren’t any symptomatic passengers on board. A WHO professional is on that ship. Medical provides are in place. Spain’s authorities have ready a cautious, step-by-step plan: passengers will likely be ferried ashore on the industrial port of Granadilla, removed from residential areas, in sealed, guarded automobiles, by a very cordoned-off hall, and repatriated on to their house international locations. You’ll not encounter them. Your households won’t encounter them.
I additionally wish to say one thing else, one thing that goes past the science.
I personally thanked Prime Minister Sanchez for Spain’s choice to obtain this ship. I known as it an act of solidarity and ethical obligation. As a result of that’s what it’s. I would like you to know that the WHO’s request to Spain was not made arbitrarily. It was made in full accordance with the Worldwide Well being Laws, the legally binding framework that defines the rights and obligations of nations and the WHO when responding to public well being occasions of worldwide concern. Below these guidelines, the closest port with ample medical capability have to be recognized to make sure the security and dignity of these on board. Tenerife met that normal. Spain honoured it. Practically 150 individuals from 23 international locations have been at sea for weeks, a few of them grieving, all of them frightened, all of them eager for house. Tenerife has been chosen as a result of it has the medical capability, the infrastructure, and the humanity to assist them attain security.
And since I consider that so deeply, I will likely be there myself. I intend to journey to Tenerife to look at this operation firsthand, to face alongside the well being employees, port employees, and officers who’re making it occur, and to personally pay my respects to an island that has responded to a troublesome scenario with grace, solidarity, and compassion. Your humanity deserves to be witnessed, not simply acknowledged from a distance.
As I’ve mentioned many instances: viruses don’t care about politics, and they don’t respect borders. The most effective immunity any of us has is solidarity.
Tenerife is demonstrating that solidarity at the moment. The ship’s captain, Jan Dobrogowski, crew and the corporate working the vessel have proven exemplary collaboration at this difficult time. On behalf of the World Well being Group, and on behalf of these passengers and their households world wide, I thank the individuals of Tenerife and everybody else concerned.
Please maintain yourselves and of one another. Belief within the preparations which have been made. And know that the WHO stands with you, and with each particular person on that ship, each step of the way in which.
With respect, care, and gratitude,
Tedros
WHO’s response to hantavirus instances linked to a cruise ship
Could 7, 2026
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-Normal, briefed media at the moment on a cluster of hantavirus instances linked to a cruise ship, the MV Hondius.
Eight instances have been reported to date, together with three deaths. 5 of the 8 instances have been confirmed as hantavirus.
The hantavirus concerned is the Andes virus, the one species identified to be able to restricted transmission between people, linked to shut and extended contact.
Describing the scenario, Dr Tedros mentioned, “Whereas it is a severe incident, WHO assesses the general public well being threat as low.” He famous that given the incubation interval, “it is potential that extra instances could also be reported.”
WHO is coordinating carefully with a number of international locations underneath the Worldwide Well being Laws or IHR, guidelines that outline the rights and obligations of nations and WHO in responding to public well being occasions. This occasion demonstrates why the IHR exist, demonstrating the significance of world cooperation and solidarity in responding to well being threats that know no borders.
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“Our priorities are to make sure the affected sufferers obtain care, that the remaining passengers on the ship are saved protected and handled with dignity, and to stop any additional unfold of the virus,” Dr Tedros mentioned.
WHO has taken numerous actions because it was notified of the scenario on Saturday, 2 Could 2026. The newest of those embrace deploying an professional on board the ship, to assist a complete medical evaluation of all passengers and crew, whereas gathering crucial data to judge their threat of an infection.
WHO has organized for the cargo of 2500 diagnostic kits from Argentina to laboratories in 5 international locations to strengthen testing capability. The Group can be growing step-by-step operational steering for the protected and respectful disembarkation and onward journey of passengers and crew once they arrive.
