The European Commission has reiterated this Thursday that the "very low" risk associated with hantavirus for European citizens remains, following the health crisis triggered by the outbreak detected on a cruise ship evacuated from the Canary Islands. However, it has warned that this episode, along with others such as the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, highlights the urgency for the Union to strengthen its preparedness and remain "vigilant" to be able to react to possible new public health emergencies.
"The hantavirus outbreak on the passenger ship 'MV Hondius' is a clear reminder of the risks that infectious diseases continue to pose," warned Commissioner for Transport and Tourism, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, during a debate on the recent health crisis held in the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg (France).
For the commissioner, the European response to the hantavirus crisis on the cruise ship has been a "success story" in terms of coordination between Member States, and he highlighted the contribution of Spain and the Netherlands, among others, in the tasks of disembarkation, relocation, and monitoring of affected patients.
At the same time, he stressed that this virus is "only one of the many health threats for which we must strengthen our preparedness in Europe" and urged to strengthen both the resilience of national health systems and cooperation between EU countries in health response matters.
"Surveillance remains a priority," the commissioner stated before the plenary of the European Parliament, emphasizing that, although eleven cases of hantavirus linked to the cruise ship outbreak have been confirmed, the appearance of new infections cannot be ruled out due to the prolonged incubation period of this virus.
In this context, he highlighted the coordination between European governments since Spain decided to activate the European Civil Protection Mechanism and stressed that all confirmed and suspected cases were "isolated and treated under very strict medical supervision, which minimized any risk of further infections."
In this way, he remarked that "there are no signs that a larger outbreak could begin" and that the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) maintains its risk assessment for the general European population at a "very low" level.
The commissioner added that the European Executive continues "with great attention" the evolution of the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in close coordination with key actors such as the World Health Organization (WHO), to "work and seek" all possible countermeasures with which to support the region in the face of the Ebola outbreak.
"We take it very seriously," indicated Tzitzikostas, who reiterated that he considers it "essential" that the Union "remain vigilant and make full use of the health security framework and all available health emergency response tools."