WHO warns hantavirus outbreak not over after deadly cruise ship cases

WHO officials said the hantavirus outbreak linked to the cruise ship MV Hondius was not over, even after evacuation flights and staged disembarkation in Tenerife. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus traveled to the Canary Islands to oversee the operation and told residents the threat was “not another COVID,” while WHO stressed the wider public risk remained low.

The ship’s cluster was first reported on May 2 after severe respiratory illness emerged aboard the Dutch-flagged vessel, which carried 147 passengers and crew, including 88 passengers and 59 crew members from 23 nationalities. By May 8, WHO said eight cases had been identified, including six laboratory-confirmed Andes virus infections and three deaths. Illness onset among the patients ran from April 6 to April 28, with symptoms that progressed from fever and gastrointestinal illness to pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome and shock.

The cruise began in Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1 and visited mainland Antarctica, South Georgia, Nightingale Island, Tristan da Cunha, Saint Helena and Ascension Island. WHO said the extent of passenger contact with local wildlife, and any exposure before boarding in Ushuaia, remained undetermined. That uncertainty has become central to the response: investigators are still trying to map where transmission began and whether anyone else on the itinerary faces ongoing risk.

As the ship arrived off Tenerife, Spanish authorities and WHO coordinated disembarkation in stages based on nationality and flight availability. WHO health operations lead Diana Rojas Alvarez described the effort as “extremely intense” but “very well organized.” Maria van Kerkhove, WHO’s director for epidemic and pandemic management, said passengers and crew should be actively monitored for up to 42 days and use quarantine and respirator precautions as needed.

WHO said all National IHR focal points had been informed and were helping with international contact tracing. Two medical evacuation flights from Cabo Verde had already carried two symptomatic confirmed patients and one previously suspected case to the Netherlands. As of May 8, four patients were hospitalized: one in intensive care in Johannesburg, two in hospitals in the Netherlands and one in Zurich. Roughly 30 crew members remained on board as the Hondius returned to the Netherlands with medical support.

In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was actively monitoring the outbreak and that the risk to the American public remained extremely low. The agency sent guidance to impacted American passengers through the U.S. Department of State and arranged for U.S. travelers to be repatriated through Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska, before transfer to the National Quarantine Center at the University of Nebraska in Omaha. The public-health message from WHO and U.S. officials has stayed consistent: the shipboard risk is real, the global threat is limited, and containment depends on tracing every exposed passenger and crew member.