Professor Sam McConkey said since the Covid-19 pandemic the country has “strengthened public health”
Prof Sam McConkey
Ireland has the capacity to welcome citizens on board the hantavirus cruise ship home, an infectious disease expert has said.
Professor Sam McConkey said since the Covid-19 pandemic the country has “strengthened public health” and they can be well-looked after here. Three people in total have died linked to an outbreak of hantavirus on the MV Hondius, where two Irish passengers were on board.
The boat left Cape Verde on Wednesday and is expected to arrive at a port in Tenerife in the early hours of Sunday. Professor McConkey, an infectious disease expert at RCSI, told RTÉ Radio 1’s Drivetime: “We have the capacity here to welcome our Irish nationals back to Ireland and to manage them appropriately.
“They need someone to feed them, someone to water them and not to be in close contact with humans. And then they need to be monitored, probably for at least six and possibly eight weeks, probably telephone calls couple times a day, and then if they show symptoms, there are facilities for hospitalisation and a safeway on for diagnostics.”
An ambulance boat arriving to help passengers on the MV Hondius(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Professor McConkey said there is “always a possibility” that the virus could mutate and become more infectious, but he doesn’t expect it to turn into a global pandemic. He added: “It’s a local outbreak on a ship that’s very, very tragic for the poor couple that died and for the people close to them.
“I feel that good intensive care, so really good oxygen support, supportive blood pressure, support of kidney function, is an important improvement. So the poor folk on the ship didn’t have that access to high quality supportive care.”
A general view of the cruise ship MV Hondius stationary off the port of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, on May 3, 2026(Image: Photo by AFP via Getty Images)
Junior Minister Sean Canney said the Government is currently putting a plan in place to ensure the two citizens are repatriated home safely, and the National Incident Management team in the HSE has been stood up to coordinate a public response.
He added: “I think we have to be very, very vigilant in seeing what’s going on and making sure that we have the necessary care in place, and also to look and see what precautions need to be taken, if any.
“We are a nation and a generation that has seen Covid and have experienced Covid. I don’t think this is a pandemic like that, but I think it’s important that we get on top of it quickly and make sure that we also may have to say, take some personal precautions again.”
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