Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise Ship Reaches U.S. as Passengers Return Home

The cruise ship at the center of a rare Andes hantavirus outbreak has docked in the Canary Islands, where authorities are evacuating passengers after at least one new infection was confirmed. The MV Hondius arrived off Tenerife over the weekend, and by Monday morning, World Health Organization officials said the last of the 147 passengers were expected to leave the vessel. Thirty crew members will stay aboard to sail the ship back to its home port in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Evacuees are being transported from the island on specially arranged repatriation flights, not commercial airlines, coordinated by Spanish authorities, the WHO, and other national health agencies. During the evacuation, a French citizen tested positive for the virus while traveling home, raising the outbreak’s confirmed case count to nine. Three deaths have been reported so far: a Dutch couple and a German woman.

Meanwhile, U.S. health officials are investigating a possible 10th case involving an American passenger who tested “mildly positive” after leaving the ship. The WHO has labeled that result as inconclusive and is awaiting further testing before updating the official tally. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services initially announced on social media that 17 American citizens had been flown back to the United States on a non-commercial flight. Those passengers were taken to Omaha, Nebraska, where the federal government operates its only National Quarantine Unit, located at the Nebraska Medical Center. The facility also houses a National Biocontainment Unit, where three individuals remain under observation.