Authorities Race to Trace MV Hondius Passengers After Hantavirus Outbreak Detected

Health authorities are racing to trace dozens of people who disembarked from the MV Hondius after a hantavirus outbreak was later detected, with the ship operator saying 29 passengers left on 24 April and the Dutch government giving a different figure of 40.

“Dozens of passengers left hantavirus-stricken cruise ship after 1st fatality Dozens of passengers left hantavirus-stricken cruise ship after 1st fatality THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — More than two dozen passengers left a cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak on April 24 without contact tracing, nearly two weeks after the first passenger died on board, the ship operator and Dutch officials said Thursday”

AP News

The BBC reported that a 69-year-old woman who left the Dutch vessel at St Helena later died in South Africa, and it said the Dutch government also reported that a Swiss national diagnosed with hantavirus was among those who left the cruise at the British Overseas Territory.

AP News

The WHO said eight cases of hantavirus—three confirmed and five suspected—had been identified in people who were on board, and it reported that one of the deceased had the virus while the other two deaths were under investigation.

Oceanwide Expeditions said in an update on Thursday that 30 people, including the body of one of the guests who died, had disembarked on 24 April, and it said all guests who disembarked had been contacted by it.

The AP reported that the Dutch-based company said Thursday 29 passengers left the vessel at St.

Helena while the Dutch Foreign Ministry put the number at about 40, and it said the first confirmed case of hantavirus in a passenger was only on May 2.

BBC

The BBC said the WHO had identified eight cases of hantavirus—three confirmed and five suspected—and it said officials had said one of the deceased had the virus while the other two deaths were under investigation.

In the United States, the WXYZ Channel 7 account quoted the CDC saying the risk to the general public in the United States is “extremely low,” while also saying “Our top priority remains the health and safety of all U.S. passengers.”

The MedPage Today report said WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus told it that “They weren't evacuated, but they got off because that was their stop.

But there could be crossover between when the virus was on board and they were on board.”

As the ship headed toward Spain’s Canary Islands, the BBC said the Dutch luxury cruise liner is set to dock in Spain's Canary Islands in the coming days, while AP said the vessel was now sailing to Spain’s Canary Islands with a voyage expected to take three or four days.

“The MV Hondius cruise ship departs the port in Praia, Cape Verde, Wednesday, May 6, 2026”

Bozeman Daily Chronicle

Reuters, as carried by Taiwan News, said the MV Hondius was expected to dock in Spain's Tenerife in the Canary Islands by Saturday, and it said that once in Tenerife, if they are still healthy, all non-Spanish citizens will be repatriated to their countries while 14 Spanish passengers will be quarantined in a military hospital in Madrid.

The BBC also said Argentina's health ministry would test rodents in the city of Ushuaia, where the ship set sail from on 1 April.

MedPage Today added that there are now a total of eight cases of hantavirus tied to the outbreak, with five confirmed and three deaths, and it said three passengers were medically evacuated from the ship on Wednesday and were being brought to the Netherlands for treatment.