The Indian Embassy in Spain on Sunday said two Indian crew members aboard the hantavirus-hit Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius are “healthy and asymptomatic” and have been flown to the Netherlands for quarantine under health safety protocols. In a statement, the embassy said the Dutch-flagged ship, carrying about 150 people, including two Indian nationals, had arrived in Spain after anchoring off the Canary Islands following the Hantavirus outbreak. The embassy said, “02 Indian nationals are healthy and have no symptoms. As informed by the Spanish National Center for Emergency Monitoring and Coordination (CENEM), 02 Indian nationals who were traveling as crew members have been evacuated to the Netherlands where they will be quarantined in accordance with the relevant health protection protocols.” The embassy said the Indian Ambassador was in close touch with the Spanish authorities and Indian citizens and was regularly monitoring the situation to ensure their safety and well-being. The statement said passengers on board the ship were disembarked in accordance with protocols set by the World Health Organization and Spanish authorities. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization issued a technical note regarding the disembarkation and management of passengers and crew linked to the outbreak. WHO advised Member States to “implement a risk-based approach to identify, monitor and manage contacts of probable or confirmed Andes virus (ANDV) cases from the MV Hondius cruise ship and those related to the incident on that cruise ship. ANDV is associated with limited human-to-human transmission, usually associated with close and prolonged contact.” According to WHO, as of May 8, eight cases of hantavirus had been reported, including three deaths. Six cases were laboratory confirmed as Andes virus infection. In India, health experts tried to downplay concerns over the outbreak linked to two Indian crew members. Dr Naveen Kumar, director of the ICMR-National Institute of Virology in Pune, said these cases do not indicate community spread in India. He said, “At present, the infections reported among Indian nationals aboard a cruise ship appear to be isolated imported cases and do not indicate community spread in India. Since hantavirus transmission is primarily rodent-borne and does not easily spread between humans, the immediate public health risk remains low.” Dr Kumar also said that human-to-human transmission of hantavirus is extremely rare.