Worldwide race to trace passengers from hantavirus-hit cruise ship
WHO says laboratory tests confirmed the Andes strain, and health officials are tracing cases across multiple countries as passengers are monitored and repatriated.
- The World Health Organization confirmed eight hantavirus cases linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship on Saturday, May 9, 2026, including three deaths. Laboratory testing identified the Andes strain as the vessel approached Tenerife, Canary Islands.
- Investigators believe the outbreak originated during a bird-watching excursion in Ushuaia, Argentina, before the ship's April 1 departure. Unlike typical rodent-borne hantavirus, the Andes strain can spread between humans, necessitating enhanced isolation protocols.
- Three passengers—a Dutch couple and a German national—died since the vessel departed Argentina. Health officials evacuated several other patients to the Netherlands and South Africa for intensive care while monitoring remaining passengers.
- Health authorities across 13 nations launched contact tracing to locate passengers who disembarked at St. Helena on April 24. The World Health Organization assesses global public health risk as low, though officials continue monitoring dispersed travelers.
- The MV Hondius will dock in Tenerife on Sunday for medical assessments and passenger repatriation. Given the virus's incubation period of up to eight weeks, international agencies remain vigilant for potential additional cases among returning travelers.
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What is the hantavirus that killed three cruise ship passengers?
Three people have died in an outbreak of hantavirus aboard a luxury cruise ship, with another five confirmed or suspected cases reported, but the World Health Organization has said the wider threat to public health remains low.
The outbreak of hantavirus detected on the expedition cruise ship MV Hondius keeps health authorities from different countries on alert, after at least three deaths and several contagions associated with the crossing that crossed the southern tip of South America were confirmed.The health emergency began after the voyage made by the Oceanwide Expeditions company, which sailed from Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1, to Antarctic and subantarctic are…
The recent health alert for an outbreak of hantavirus on board a cruise ship in the Atlantic, which has already claimed the lives of three people, has refocused on this rare but potentially serious disease. Hantavirus is a group of viruses transmitted mainly by rodents that can cause severe clinical conditions in humans, especially at the respiratory level. Although cases are relatively rare compared to other infectious diseases, their rate of c…
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