In April 2026, an outbreak of hantavirus was identified on the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius. As of 7 May 2026, the ship has set sail for Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, after the Spanish Ministry of Health approved the ship’s arrival.
๐ข Ship and Outbreak Origin
The MV Hondius is owned by the Dutch company Oceanwide Expeditions. The ship has accommodation for 196 passengers and a crew of 72. The ship departed from Ushuaia, Argentina, on 1 April, with plans to visit Antarctica and several isolated islands in the South Atlantic.
Around 150 passengers and crew of 23 nationalities were on board Hondius. Passengers mostly came from Spain, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, while the bulk of the crew came from the Philippines.
๐ฆ Virus and Transmission
The specific species of hantavirus is the Andes virus, the only hantavirus capable of human-to-human transmission. This is rare and has previously occurred, usually in cases of close, often sustained, contact. Hantaviruses, of which there are more than fifty types, are viruses that cause illness in rodents and sometimes humans.
In rodents, hantaviruses usually cause an asymptomatic, persistent infection. Infected animals can spread the virus to uninfected animals through aerosols or droplets from their faeces, urine, saliva and blood. In humans, Andes virus usually causes hantavirus pulmonary syndrome โ a severe illness affecting the heart and breathing.
๐ Timeline of Events
On 1 April 2026, the ship left Ushuaia, Argentina. On 6 April, a 70-year-old Dutchman began showing symptoms. He then became the first to die on board the ship on 11 April. On 24 April, the Dutchman’s body was taken off the ship upon its arrival at Saint Helena, a British Overseas Territory.
On 26 April, the widow boarded KLM flight KL592 from Johannesburg to Amsterdam, but was removed from the plane before take-off due to her medical state. She died in a hospital in South Africa on the same day. On 2 May, a German woman died on board. On 6 May, the ship left Cape Verde for the Canary Islands.
๐ฅ Cases and Hospitalizations
As of 7 May 2026, infected passengers are hospitalized in South Africa, the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland. There are eight suspected cases, including five confirmed cases. There have been three deaths, one of which has been confirmed as caused by the Andes virus.
On 6 May, the Swiss government confirmed that a man infected with hantavirus was being treated in Zurich, Switzerland. On the same day, it was announced that three more people experiencing symptoms had been sent to the Netherlands by two air ambulances to undergo treatment.
๐ International Response
The president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, had been objecting to the ship’s arrival out of concerns for the islanders’ safety. Despite the objections, Spain approved the plan for the Hondius to dock in Tenerife, with its health agency stating it was in accordance with international law and humanitarian principles.
30 passengers disembarked during its stop in Saint Helena, all of whom have been contact traced by the UK Health Security Agency. The Cape Verdean government announced the creation of an isolation area and the coordination of a multidisciplinary team to provide assistance to the ship’s passengers or crew.
๐ฌ Investigation and Index Case
On 6 May, two anonymous Argentine investigators claimed that the leading hypothesis was that the index case had contracted the virus while birdwatching. The Argentine health ministry published a report showing the movements of the index case prior to the ship’s departure, showing they had gone on a four month road trip spanning Chile, Uruguay and Argentina.
The National Ministry of Health and the Malbrรกn Institute are advancing the epidemiological investigation at the local level, capturing and testing rodents along the route the Dutch passengers travelled. The index case only returned to Argentina from Uruguay four days before departure.
| Date | Event | Location | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 April 2026 | Ship departure | Ushuaia, Argentina | Ship left with plans to visit Antarctica and South Atlantic islands |
| 6 April 2026 | First symptoms | On board MV Hondius | 70-year-old Dutchman began showing symptoms |
| 11 April 2026 | First death | On board MV Hondius | Dutchman died; death attributed to generic natural causes |
| 24 April 2026 | Body removal and disembarkation | Saint Helena | Dutchman’s body removed; 30-40 passengers disembarked |
| 26 April 2026 | Second death | Johannesburg, South Africa | Widow died in hospital after being removed from KLM flight |
| 2 May 2026 | Third death | On board MV Hondius | German woman died on board |
| 3 May 2026 | Ship docked | Praia, Cape Verde | Authorities sent medical supplies and officials |
| 6 May 2026 | Ship departure for Tenerife | Cape Verde | Ship left for Canary Islands after Spain approved arrival |