Twelve staff members at Radboudumc, the university medical centre in Nijmegen, have been placed in preventive quarantine after failing to follow the required strict protocols while treating a patient infected with hantavirus. The patient was evacuated from the MV Hondius cruise ship and admitted on 7 May.
The hospital disclosed on Monday evening that when taking the patient's blood, staff followed a standard procedure rather than the stricter protocol mandated due to the virus's nature. Additionally, the disposal of the patient's urine did not comply with the most recent international regulations.
Although the risk of infection is considered low, the twelve workers will remain in quarantine for six weeks. The hantavirus patient is also in isolation.
Hospital Response and Investigation
Bertine Lahuis, Chair of the Executive Board of Radboudumc, expressed regret over the incident. 'We regret that this has happened at our university medical center. We will carefully investigate the course of events to learn from this and to prevent it from happening in the future,' she said in a statement.
The breach comes amid a broader health scare linked to the MV Hondius, a Dutch-flagged cruise ship where an outbreak of hantavirus has led to three deaths and multiple infections. The rare virus, which typically spreads among rodents, has no specific vaccines or treatments, though health officials stress the risk to the general public remains low.
The ship began its return journey to the Netherlands on Tuesday after completing a large-scale evacuation that started on Sunday. The final group of 28 evacuees travelled by chartered buses to Tenerife South Airport and boarded two flights that landed in the Netherlands early Tuesday. One plane carried mostly crew members: seventeen Filipinos, a Dutch national, a German, a British doctor, and two epidemiologists.
At least seven evacuees have tested positive for hantavirus, with an eighth listed as a probable case, according to the World Health Organisation. The ship is expected to arrive in Rotterdam on Sunday evening for disinfection procedures.
The incident at Radboudumc highlights the challenges hospitals face in handling rare pathogens. The hospital's investigation aims to prevent future lapses, as the continent watches the aftermath of the MV Hondius outbreak.
