Passengers who were on ship at centre of hantavirus outbreak en route to Canada

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'All countries are taking precautions': WHO on disembarking passengers

Infectious disease expert on what to expect as passengers disembark

Passengers who were stuck on a cruise ship at the centre of a deadly hantavirus outbreak have disembarked and are on a plane en route to Canada.

The passengers wore protective gear as they climbed the stairs onto the plane, which is bound for the Saguenay-Bagotville Airport roughly two hours outside of Quebec City.

Oceanwide Expeditions, the ship’s owner, says there were four Canadians among the roughly 130 other asymptomatic passengers on board the MV Hondius when it reached port this morning.

READ MORE: Evacuation of hantavirus-hit ship begins in Canary Islands

Oceanwide Expeditions says representatives from a number of groups, including the World Health Organization, screened passengers at the port.

There were eight cases, including three deaths, of hantavirus on the cruise ship.

The virus originates in rodents, and the version on the cruise ship -- the Andes virus -- is the only one known to spread from human to human, though it’s not very contagious.

Several Canadians have been told to isolate after coming into contact with infected passengers.

A couple from the Grey Bruce region of Ontario disembarked from the ship in late April before the outbreak was declared and have showed no symptoms. 

Four other Canadians — from Quebec, Alberta and Ontario — were not on the ship but may have come into contact with someone infected with hantavirus while flying, the federal government said.