On Monday evening, the last passengers were evacuated from the ship Hondius to Tenerife and beyond.
The ship is now traveling towards Rotterdam with a crew of 26 and is expected to arrive on Sunday evening, according to the shipping company.
On Monday evening, a Spanish passenger tested positive for the hantavirus, but without experiencing any symptoms, according to Madrid's health department.
In total, there are now seven confirmed infected people - one Dutchman, two Britons, one Swiss, one Frenchwoman, one American and one Spaniard - and an eighth "probable" case, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Three people have already died, two of them with confirmed infection.
Quarantine in the Netherlands
Healthcare personnel in full protective clothing have taken care of the passengers who have been on board the luxury cruise ship.
"All measures have been taken to break any chains of infection," the Health Ministry in Madrid announced.
In the Netherlands, procedures broke down, AFP reports. Twelve staff at a hospital dealing with the virus were placed in a six-week preventive quarantine on Monday due to lapses in handling blood and urine, even though the risk of infection was described as low.
The 17 Americans on board, as well as a Brit living in the United States, have been taken on a chartered plane to Omaha, Nebraska, CNN reports. There they will be examined and monitored at a highly specialized quarantine facility.
The American who tested positive is said to have no symptoms but will be treated directly at the infectious disease department at the University of Nebraska Hospital. Another person in the group is showing mild symptoms, AP reports.
Unclear source
Everyone on the ship is classified as high-risk contacts due to the outbreak of the potentially deadly hantavirus on board. A total of eleven cases of the illness have been linked to the luxury liner.
The source of the outbreak is unclear, but it is suspected that the cruise passengers came into contact with the virus before departing from Argentina.
Facts: Hantavirus
Hantavirus infections are caused by around 35 different closely related variants of hantavirus that have been reported worldwide.
Hantavirus infection is a zoonosis, meaning a disease that can be transmitted between animals and humans. In one variant, the Andes virus, which is mainly found in South America, transmission between humans has also been demonstrated.
In Sweden, only the Puumala virus variant, which causes the disease bat fever, is found.
Each hantavirus has a specific rodent species as its host. Hantavirus does not normally cause disease in rodents, but they can carry the virus for a long time. Viruses are excreted in the urine, feces, and saliva of infected rodents.
Depending on the type of hantavirus, you can suffer from anything from completely asymptomatic infections to very severe forms of hemorrhagic fever, or acute pulmonary syndrome with a high mortality rate.
Source: Public Health Agency of Sweden
