Spanish authorities 'ready' for hantavirus-stricken boat: health minister

Spanish authorities are "ready" to evacuate passengers from the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius, Health Minister Monica Garcia Gomez said during a news conference on the Spanish island of Tenerife. A cruise ship hit with a deadly hantavirus outbreak is headed for Spain's Canary Islands, where most of the nearly 150 people on board will be evacuated and flown home after weeks at sea.

Three passengers from the ship -- a Dutch husband and wife and a German woman -- have died, while others have fallen sick with the rare disease, which usually spreads among rodents. The only hantavirus type that can transmit from person to person -- the Andes virus -- has been confirmed among those who have tested positive, fuelling international concern.