Brussels, May 12 (IANS) The European Commission said that it is coordinating and supporting national authorities’ response to a hantavirus outbreak, while the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) assesses the risk to the general population in Europe as very low.

Since Spain activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism on May 6, the EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre has been facilitating the safe evacuation of people aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship, which was anchored off Tenerife.

Five repatriation flights coordinated by the EU took place on Sunday and were carried out by France, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece and Ireland. A sixth and final flight, operated by the Netherlands, departed on Monday, according to the Commission.

The EU is also mobilizing response capabilities and stockpiles from its strategic reserve. A medical evacuation aircraft from the EU fleet, hosted by Norway, has been pre-positioned in Tenerife, while additional transport and logistics capacities, as well as protective equipment, are ready to be deployed if needed.

The Emergency Response Coordination Centre has deployed a liaison officer to Tenerife to support on-site coordination with relevant authorities. The ECDC also deployed two experts from the EU Health Task Force to the ship before passengers disembarked.

According to the Commission, the EU is working closely with EU members, countries participating in the Civil Protection Mechanism, the ECDC, the World Health Organization and G7 partners in responding to the outbreak, Xinhua news agency reported.

Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib said health threats can easily cross borders and coordination is therefore essential.

According to the World Health Organization, Hantaviruses are zoonotic viruses that naturally infect rodents and are occasionally transmitted to humans. Infection in people can result in severe illness and often death, although the diseases vary by type of virus and geographical location. In the Americas, infection has been known to lead to hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS), a rapidly progressive condition affecting the lungs and heart, while in Europe and Asia hantaviruses have been known to cause haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), which primarily affects the kidneys and blood vessels.

While there is no specific treatment that cures hantavirus diseases, early supportive medical care is key to improve survival and focuses on close clinical monitoring and management of respiratory, cardiac and kidney complications. Prevention depends largely on reducing contacts between people and infected rodents.

Transmission of hantaviruses to humans occurs from contact with contaminated urine, droppings or saliva of infected rodents. Infection may also occur, although less commonly, through rodent bites. Activities that involve contact with rodents such as cleaning enclosed or poorly ventilated spaces, farming, forestry work and sleeping in rodent-infested dwellings increase exposure risk.

–IANS

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