Worldwide race to trace passengers from hantavirus-hit cruise ship
Health authorities are tracing passengers across 13 countries as the rare Andes strain raises concern over limited human-to-human spread.
- 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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204 Articles
Montana Standard
CRUISE SHIP SEES DEADLY HANTAVIRUS OUTBREAK
Health personnel assist patients onto a boat from the cruise ship MV Hondius on Wednesday off of Praia, Cape Verde. three of the ship's passengers died of a rare and deadly hantavirus; five others tested positive for it and three…
Germany and other states are preparing to fly their own citizens from the Hantavirus ship. Passengers are only allowed to carry the most necessary luggage.
Did the passengers of the "Hondius" come close to the wife of a previously deceased passenger? In any case, a Turkish passenger reports this. He accuses the crew of the cruise ship of not warning the passengers: "They did not take the problem seriously enough."
Medical epidemiologist breaks down cruise ship hantavirus outbreak
The MV Hondius, a Dutch cruise ship with a deadly outbreak of hantavirus, was on its way to the Canary Islands on May 7, 2026, after evacuating three ill passengers for treatment. The World Health Organization confirmed the outbreak on May 4, noting a total of seven infections, with three deaths since the outbreak began in early April. An eighth case was confirmed on May 6. Because of the illness’s one- to eight-week incubation period, additiona…
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