Americans evacuated from cruise ship after deadly hantavirus outbreak at sea

Seventeen Americans were flown out of the Canary Islands after a hantavirus outbreak on the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius turned a cruise stop near Tenerife into a cross-border medical evacuation. The U.S. government sent a repatriation flight coordinated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services, and the passengers were expected to be monitored at the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

The ship arrived off Tenerife, the largest island in Spain’s Canary Islands, and passengers began disembarking Sunday morning for repatriation flights. Health officials said there were 17 U.S. citizens aboard the vessel, and as of Saturday none of them had tested positive for hantavirus. One additional evacuee was a British national who lives in the United States.

Authorities moved passengers in small groups by nationality during what officials described as a two-day operation. Crew and passengers were escorted ashore in protective gear, taken by bus, and then sent on charter flights arranged by their home countries. Spanish passengers were flown first to Madrid and taken to Gómez Ulla Hospital, a military hospital. French, Canadian and British passengers were also being repatriated under strict isolation and monitoring procedures.

The evacuation came after reports of confirmed and probable hantavirus cases aboard the ship varied as the operation unfolded. Officials described eight confirmed and probable cases, including two confirmed deaths and one suspected death, while other reports put the toll at at least nine confirmed or suspected cases, including three fatalities. A French passenger developed symptoms during a repatriation flight and was placed in strict isolation after landing.

Remy Inocencio reported from Tenerife as nearly 150 passengers and crewmembers prepared to leave the vessel. The response drew in Spanish Health Ministry officials, the U.S. State Department, French foreign ministry officials, and Canadian public health officials, with the evacuation centered at Granadilla port and airport departures across the region.

World Health Organization officials said the public risk remained low, underscoring the narrow but serious threat posed by the outbreak. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized that concern with a blunt warning: “This is not another COVID.”