WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Coordinates MV Hondius Hantavirus Passenger Evacuation in Tenerife

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will travel to Tenerife, the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands, to coordinate the evacuation of passengers from the MV Hondius after the ship was affected by hantavirus.

Anadolu Ajansı said the evacuation must take place between Sunday and Monday due to worsening weather conditions, with regional government spokesman Alfonso Cabello quoted saying, "The only window of opportunity we have to carry out this operation is around 12 o'clock on Sunday and until conditions change on Monday."

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The Irish Times reported the evacuation must be completed within 24 hours of the vessel reaching Tenerife on Sunday or face days or even weeks of delay because of bad weather, as the Dutch-flagged vessel is due to arrive in the Spanish archipelago this weekend.

The Irish Times also said the Hondius is estimated to arrive at the port of Granadilla, Tenerife, in the early hours of Sunday and will remain at anchor in the south-eastern port of Granadilla rather than dock.

Anadolu Ajansı reported the operation involves nearly 150 passengers and crew from 23 different countries, and said the vessel is expected to arrive off Tenerife early Sunday and anchor offshore before passengers are transferred to smaller boats for repatriation flights.

Two new suspected hantavirus cases were reported on Friday, one in Spain and the other on the remote South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, as experts race to contain an outbreak linked to the MV Hondius.

The Irish Times reported a 32-year-old woman in the southeastern Spanish province of Alicante has symptoms consistent with a hantavirus infection and is being tested, and said Secretary of State for Health Javier Padilla told reporters she was briefly sitting on a plane behind a Dutch woman who had contracted the virus on the MV Hondius.

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Global News said Secretary of State for Health Javier Padilla described the contact as brief, quoting him saying, "was sitting two rows behind the person who died from hantavirus" and adding that the contact was "brief" since the passenger had only been "on board for a short time."

Global News also reported that Anais Legand, WHO technical officer for viral threats, said in an online briefing, "we continue to consider the risk as low for the general population," as health officials seek to monitor passengers who left the Hondius.

The Irish Times said the WHO confirmed that all six laboratory-confirmed cases were identified as the Andes strains and that two others were probable, while it also reported a Danish person tested negative for the virus.

As countries prepare for the ship’s arrival, the plan includes screening and disembarkation under new guidelines still being finalised by WHO and other health officials, with passengers evaluated on the ship and taken to repatriation flights.

“Hantavirus: WHO chief to travel to Spain's Canary Islands to coordinate cruise ship passengers' evacuation Evacuation planned within ‘the only window of opportunity’ Sunday, says regional official Seyma Erkul Dayanc 09 May 2026•Update: 09 May 2026 ISTANBUL World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will travel to Tenerife, the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands, off West Africa, to coordinate the evacuation of passengers from a cruise ship affected by the hantavirus, Irish public broadcaster RTE reported Friday, citing Interior Ministry sources”

Anadolu Ajansı

NBC News reported that seventeen American passengers aboard the MV Hondius will quarantine at a Nebraska facility that specializes in handling patients with highly communicable diseases, and said a team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will meet the American passengers there.

NBC News quoted Dr. Michael Wadman, the unit’s medical director, saying the National Quarantine Unit will assess them and determine any necessary quarantine measures, while Dr. Angela Hewlett said the people being transported are in good health and asymptomatic.

For the wider outbreak response, Global News said the WHO arranged for the shipment of 2,500 diagnostic kits from Argentina to laboratories in five countries to strengthen testing capacity.

NBC News also said the WHO confirmed six cases of the Andes hantavirus and two cases were probable, and reported that two people with confirmed cases and one person with a probable case have died, as officials continue tracing and monitoring passengers who left the Hondius at points along its voyage.