Hantavirus: Evacuated passengers begin returning home

https://p.dw.com/p/5DLmQ

AdvertisementSkip next section What you need to know

What you need to know

• Four evacuated Germans arrive in Frankfurt

• The virus-hit MV Hondius has docked off the Spanish port of Granadilla, Tenerife

• The US, the UK and several European countries dispatched aircraft to evacuate their citizens

• Spain's Health Minister Monica Garcia says 94 people from 19 countries have been evacuated so far

• Garcia says 34 others, most of them crew members, will remain on board and head to the Netherlands aboard the Hondius on Monday

• None of the remaining passengers or crew had shown signs of symptoms, until one French national did during a flight from Tenerife to France

• One US passenger tested positive, but is asymptomatic 

• The head of the World Health Organization said the risk posed by the hantavirus outbreak 'remains low'

Stay with us for the latest news on the MV Hondius hantavirus outbreak:

Skip next section Four Germans return home from hantavirus cruise ship05/11/2026May 11, 2026

Four Germans return home from hantavirus cruise ship

Four German passengers who were aboard the Hondius arrived at a hospital in Frankfurt on Monday for further examination and observation before being moved into quarantine in their home states, a spokesperson said.

The German passengers were transferred by ground to Frankfurt from Eindhoven airport in the Netherlands after arriving on an evacuation flight from Tenerife on Sunday. 

Other passengers on Sunday's flight included Dutch, Belgian and Greek nationals, all of who were asymptomatic before departure, according to the Spanish Health Ministry.

Berlin's health authorities said one, asymptomatic, German passenger is due to be taken to Berlin's Charite hospital. Another person with no symptoms is due to into home quarantine in the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, officials there said.

According to the latest figures from the World Health Organization (WHO), there are six confirmed cases of hantavirus and two suspected cases from the Hondius cruise ship. Three people died from the virus — an elderly couple from the Netherlands and a German woman

The WHO believes that the chain of infection began with the Dutch couple, who may have been infected in Argentina before boarding the ship.

https://p.dw.com/p/5DZFsSkip next section French woman tests positive for hantavirus after returning home05/11/2026May 11, 2026

French woman tests positive for hantavirus after returning home

A French woman who returned to Paris on Sunday after being evacuated from the MV Hondius has tested positive for hantavirus after developing symptoms on the flight home, French Health Minister Stephanie Rist said Monday.

Rist added the woman's condition had worsened in the hospital overnight. 

The woman was among five French passengers repatriated on Sunday after the vessel anchored off the Spanish island of Tenerife in the Atlantic. Personnel wearing protective gear and breathing masks had escorted the passengers from the vessel to shore.

Passengers from 20 countries are being repatriated, in an effort that was continuing on Monday.

The World Health Organization has the health risk to the broader public remains low, but has recommended close monitoring of the those who were evacuated from the ship.

Many countries have quarantined the returnees. 

https://p.dw.com/p/5DZ90Skip next section American cruise ship passenger on route to US tests positive for hantavirus05/11/2026May 11, 2026

American cruise ship passenger on route to US tests positive for hantavirus

One of the 17 US passengers evacuated from the MV Hondius cruise ship has tested positive for hantavirus. 

That's according to a spokesperson from Nebraska Medicine. 

Passengers are expected to arrive in Nebraska on Monday morning after being evacuated on a reparation flight from Spain's Canary Islands. 

"One passenger will be transported to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit upon arrival," Kayla Thomas said.

This person had "tested positive for the virus but [does] not have symptoms," she said.

The other passengers will go to the National Quarantine Unit, managed by Nebraska Medicine and the University of Nebraska Medical Center. 

The 20-bed facility is the only federally-funded quarantine unit in the United States. 

According to the unit's website, the rooms have "individual negative air pressure systems, are single occupancy with en suite bathroom facilities, and contain exercise equipment and Wifi connectivity for patients requiring longer stays."

Other US passengers won't necessarily be quarantined

Earlier, a top US health official said that passengers won't necessarily be quarantined.

After being taken to the specialized center in Nebraska, "we're going to interview them and assess them for risk ... if they have been in close contact with somebody who was symptomatic," Jay Bhattacharya, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told CNN on Sunday.

Following this assessment, passengers will be allowed "to stay in Nebraska if they'd like, or if they want to go back home, and their home situation allows it, to safely drive them home without exposing other people on the way," Bhattacharya said.

In either case, passengers will remain under observation for several weeks by health authorities, he said.

Bhattacharya said the same protocol was followed during a 2018 outbreak "of this exact strain of the hantavirus," which was successfully contained.

https://p.dw.com/p/5DYnGSkip next section WATCH: 'Full maritime exclusion zone' as Hondius cruise evacuated05/11/2026May 11, 2026

WATCH: 'Full maritime exclusion zone' as Hondius cruise evacuated

Passengers exposed to a deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship have been evacuated to receive medical attention. DW's Nicole Ris and molecular biologist Kai Kupferschmidt have more. 

'Full maritime exclusion zone' as Hondius cruise evacuated

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https://p.dw.com/p/5DYcUSkip next section 94 people from 19 countries evacuated so far05/11/2026May 11, 2026

94 people from 19 countries evacuated so far

A total of 94 passengers and crew members have been evacuated from the Hondius cruise ship affected by a deadly hantavirus outbreak. 

Individuals from 19 countries left the Canary island on eight special aircraft, Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia told journalists in Tenerife on Sunday.

According to Garcia, 34 people, most of them crew members, will remain on board and head to the Netherlands aboard the Hondius, which sails under a Dutch flag, on Monday.

The ship is to travel to the port of Rotterdam, where it will undergo disinfection. The body of a German passenger, who died on the ship, will be removed upon arrival there. 

Here's an overview of what we know about some of the evacuations flights: 

• France: French passengers have landed in Paris, where they were met by emergency vehicles. One of the French passengers developed symptoms during the evacuation flight. All are to be put into strict isolation. 
• United Kingdom: Authorities have said passengers will be hospitalized for 72 hours of quarantine, followed by six weeks of self-isolation.
• Netherlands: 26 people were evacuated to the Dutch city of Eindhoven. These included eight Dutch citizens, as well as people from India, Germany, Argentina, Belgium, Greece, Portugal, Ukraine, Guatemala, the Philippines and Montenegro, according to the Dutch Foreign Ministry. The Dutch citizens were being taken home by medical transport and will self-quarantine for six weeks. Local health services were arranging quarantine locations for others.
• Norway: Norway sent an ambulance plane to the island with personnel trained to transport patients with high-risk infections, its Directorate for Civil Protection told public broadcaster NRK.
• United States: Americans will first be flown to the University of Nebraska, which has a quarantine facility, to assess whether they have been in close contact with any symptomatic people and their risk levels for spreading the virus, the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, told US broadcaster CNN. 
• Australia: Australia is sending a plane to evacuate its citizens and others from nearby countries, such as New Zealand. This is expected to arrive in Tenerife on Monday. 

https://p.dw.com/p/5DYecSkip next section WATCH: How the MV Hondius hantavirus outbreak is tracked worldwide05/11/2026May 11, 2026

WATCH: How the MV Hondius hantavirus outbreak is tracked worldwide

Dozens of passengers left the MV Hondius before the deaths of two people were linked to the hantavirus's Andes strain. Epidemiologist, Professor Anne Rimoin, discusses how individuals who may have been exposed are being traced. 

How the MV Hondius hantavirus outbreak is tracked worldwide

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https://p.dw.com/p/5DYcVSkip next section WATCH: Spain flies passengers home from hantavirus-hit ship05/10/2026May 10, 2026

WATCH: Spain flies passengers home from hantavirus-hit ship

Karl Sexton Editor

Nearly four weeks after a deadly hantavirus outbreak on a luxury cruise ship, an international evacuation operation is under way. Authorities from 23 countries are coordinating the evacuation as health agencies enforce strict precautions.

Spain flies passengers home from hantavirus-hit ship

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https://p.dw.com/p/5DYcTSkip next section Netherlands plane returns with 26 on board, including 4 German passengers05/10/2026May 10, 2026

Netherlands plane returns with 26 on board, including 4 German passengers

A transport plane from Tenerife to Eindhoven military airport landed late on Sunday. 

It was carrying 26 passengers or crew from the MV Hondius, including eight Dutch nationals and four Germans. 

Specialists, including from the Red Cross, were awaiting the plane's arrvial. The four Germans were set to be transported to Frankfurt. 

"Relieved that they are safely on their way after a period of uncertainty and that the other passengers are travelling home via other routes," Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen had said soon after the plane took off, thanking Spain and other partners for their cooperation.

According to authorities in the Netherlands all the passengers will be quarantined for around six weeks. 

Netherlands residents would be transported home for isolation while citizens of other countries without alternative options would be taken to a "quarantine location," the Foreign Ministry said. 

Hantavirus can have a rather long incubation period, extending to or even beyond six weeks in exceptional cases, though typically symptoms will present faster than that.

Spanish civil protection chief Virginia Barcones told local radio that citizens of Belgium, Greece, Guatemala and Argentina were on board, as well as the four Germans. 

https://p.dw.com/p/5DYNVSkip next section Germans will be isolated on return home from Hondius, state ministry says05/10/2026May 10, 2026

Germans will be isolated on return home from Hondius, state ministry says

The four remaining German passengers from the MV Hondius will be placed in quarantine on their return, the Health Ministry of the state of Brandenburg said on Sunday. 

It said health officials had arranged for specialists to meet them upon their arrival in the Netherlands at the military airport in Eindhoven, and then transport them to Frankfurt as a first step. 

All four are thought to be asymptomatic. But should any of them display symptoms in transport, they would be taken to the Düsseldorf University Hospital, where one 65-year-old woman is already on the infectious diseases ward.

She had close contact with one of the patients on board who died, and was flown off the cruise ship before it reached Tenerife. 

https://p.dw.com/p/5DYLVSkip next section French PM: One patient exhibited symptoms on flight home05/10/2026May 10, 2026

French PM: One patient exhibited symptoms on flight home

Saim Dušan Inayatullah Editor

One of the five French nationals repatriated on Sunday demonstrated symptoms during the flight, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said. 

"One of them showed symptoms in the repatriation plane," Lecornu wrote online. "Also, these five passengers have been immediately placed in strict isolation until further notice." 

Lecornu said they were receiving medical attention and would have tests and a medical check-up. 

Lecornu said that later on Sunday evening he would implement a temporary decree authorizing isolation measures for contact cases to protect the wider public, saying the Health Ministry would comment further later. 

https://p.dw.com/p/5DYJBSkip next section Pope Leo thanks the Canary Islands for letting the hantavirus-hit ship to anchor05/10/2026May 10, 2026

Pope Leo thanks the Canary Islands for letting the hantavirus-hit ship to anchor

Addressing the faithful from St. Peter's Square in the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV praised the people of Spain's Canary Islands, which includes Tenerife, for allowing the cruise ship Hondius into one if its ports after a hantavirus outbreak.

"I would like to express my gratitude for the hospitality that characterizes the people of the Canary Islands, and for taking in the cruise ship Hondius with the hantavirus patients,” Leo said after his midday prayer on Sunday.

Initially, regional officials in the Canary Islands refused to let the ship enter its ports, citing public safety. These objections have been overruled by the central government in Madrid.

The pope is due to visit Tenerife in just over a month and attend an event in the Santa Cruz port.

https://p.dw.com/p/5DXyHSkip next section First plane with Hondius passengers leaves Tenerife, heads to Madrid05/10/2026May 10, 2026

First plane with Hondius passengers leaves Tenerife, heads to Madrid

The plane carrying 13 passengers and one crew member evacuated from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship  has left the Tenerife airport and is flying towards Madrid, where the group is to be placed in quarantine.

This is the first out of several evacuation flights expected today and tomorrow.

Cruise shop MV Hondius was affected by a hantavirus outbreak after leaving Argentina. Earlier today, it reached the Spanish island of Tenerife with more than 140 from 20 nations aboard, triggering an international evacuation effort.

https://p.dw.com/p/5DXxmSkip next section German firefighters to pick up German Hondius passengers from a Dutch airport05/10/2026May 10, 2026

German firefighters to pick up German Hondius passengers from a Dutch airport

As multiple nations work to transfer their nationals from Tenerife following the evacuation of the Hondius cruise ship, a Dutch flight is set to transport a group of passengers from the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Greece to the Dutch city of Eindhoven.

At the Dutch airport, four Germans will reportedly be met by German firefighters who will then transport them to Frankfurt, some 300 kilometers (186 miles) southeast.

Citing unnamed sources, Germany's DPA news agency said that any patient starting to show symptoms of a hantavirus infection will be taken to a clinic in the western German city of Dusseldorf.

The clinic is already treating a 65-year-old woman who had been a passenger on the Hondius and in contact with the German woman who passed away during the journey.

https://p.dw.com/p/5DXu2Skip next section First passengers leave hantavirus-hit shipPublished 05/10/2026Published May 10, 2026last updated 05/10/2026last updated May 10, 2026

First passengers leave hantavirus-hit ship

The first group of passengers, all Spanish nationals, have disembarked from the Hondius and been transported ashore on the Spanish island of Tenerife.

They are set to board military buses that will take them to the airport, where they will fly on a military plane to Madrid. Once there, they will be placed in quarantine.

"The entire operation is proceeding normally," Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia said.

Dutch nationals are expected to be the next to leave the vessel.

A medical team has now boarded the MV Hondius and is conducting an epidemiological investigation, according to the Spanish Health Ministry.

https://p.dw.com/p/5DXjYSkip next section UK parachutes medical team to remote Tristan da Cunha island05/10/2026May 10, 2026

UK parachutes medical team to remote Tristan da Cunha island

After a British national with a suspected hantavirus infection disembarked from the Hondius on the island of Tristan da Cunha, the UK military parachuted "specialist paratroopers and military clinicians" onto the British overseas territory.

Oxygen and other medical equipment were also dropped from the RAF cargo plane. The UK military described the drop as a "daring parachute operation to deliver critical medical support."

The remote volcanic island, home of the Hondius passenger, is located in the South Atlantic and has no airstrip, making it accessible only by boat.

UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the safety of "all members of the British family" is the top priority and that her government will continue to ensure that "the right support is in place in the UK and across the Overseas Territories."

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