The vessel's arrival comes amidst concerns over hantavirus, with a suspected case already admitted to a hospital in Alicante. This individual, a woman not on the cruise, exhibits mild symptoms and traveled on a flight between Johannesburg and Amsterdam, where she was in proximity to an infected cruise passenger.

The KLM flight has become a key point for tracing potential infections. A South African woman who was on the same plane and spent a week in Barcelona has been located and shows no symptoms. A flight attendant from the same flight, initially considered a suspect, tested negative.

The 14 Spanish passengers on board the cruise will be transferred to the Gómez Ulla military hospital in Madrid, a facility that previously managed Ebola cases. Although the World Health Organization has ruled out an epidemic similar to coronavirus, the situation is generating anticipation, particularly due to perceived disorganization between state authorities and those of the Canary Islands Community.

It is speculated that the outbreak may have originated from two Dutch ornithologists infected at a bird observatory in Argentina. The husband passed away on April 11 and the wife on April 25, one day after disembarking on Saint Helena Island. Meanwhile, the biotechnology company Moderna has announced preliminary research to develop a hantavirus vaccine, which has boosted its shares on the New York stock exchange.