Hantavirus latest: Three more people infected with deadly virus as last passengers leave cruise ship
At least six cases of hantavirus have now been confirmed among the passengers on the cruise ship hit by a deadly outbreak, the World Health Organisation said.
The lab results of the American who tested positive were inconclusive, WHO spokesperson Sarah Tyler said Monday.Earlier on Monday, the last remaining passenger disembarked and boarded flights to their home countries where they were quarantined.
The 20 British passengers, who were tested for hantavirus before getting on the flight on Sunday, have now been taken to isolate at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside upon their arrival at Manchester Airport.
Meanwhile, the director-general of World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that if the passengers had “stayed longer on the ship, the situation could have been difficult”.At least three passengers have died.
The ship's captain, Jan Dobrogowski, issued a video message Monday praising passengers and crew for their courage and perseverance, and he called for respect for their privacy.“I could not imagine sailing through these circumstances with a better group of people, guests and crew alike,” he said.
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Recap: How many hantavirus cases have been confirmed?
- Seven cases of Andes hantavirus have been confirmed among passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship, as reported by the World Health Organization.
- Two additional cases are suspected, including the individual believed to be the first infected, who died before being tested.
- The outbreak has resulted in a total of three deaths.
- Twenty British passengers, who were tested for hantavirus, are now isolating at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside after arriving at Manchester Airport.
- UK health officials have commenced contact tracing for individuals who had contact with those evacuated from the hantavirus-stricken MV Hondius.
Health secretary reacts after being criticised over hantavirus response
Health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr responded after some public health experts have accused the US government of being slow to respond to the hantavirus outbreak.
Rejecting the notion that cuts at his agency had left the US less prepared, he said: “We have this under control…and we’re not worried about it.”
Namita Singh12 May 2026 06:45Australia to quarantine six people flying home from hantavirus cruise ship
Australia to quarantine six people from hantavirus cruise ship
Government to enact ‘national quarantine arrangements’ to manage outbreakRebecca Whittaker12 May 2026 06:30US rushes to test nationals evacuated from cruise
One of 18 evacuated passengers flown to the US also tested positive for the hantavirus but was not showing symptoms, while another had mild symptoms, US health officials said.
After landing early on Monday, 16 American passengers – one of them a British-US dual citizen – were taken to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, which has a federally funded quarantine facility and a biocontainment unit for treating people with highly infectious diseases.
They were being assessed to determine if they had close contact with any symptomatic people and their risk levels for spreading the virus.
An American who tested positive for hantavirus on the cruise ship was taken to the Omaha campus' biocontainment unit and will be tested again. The passenger “is doing well and not having symptoms at this time,” said Dr Angela Hewlett, the unit's medical director.
The others taken to Nebraska will be monitored in quarantine for several days. They arrived “in good shape, good spirits,” said Dr Michael Wadman, the quarantine unit's medical director.
Two additional American passengers, a couple, arrived Monday at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. One of them had mild symptoms and will be tested for hantavirus.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean, just because someone has symptoms, that they’re going to end up having this illness,” said Dr Brendan Jackson of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Namita Singh12 May 2026 06:15Delayed rescue could have led to complication, says WHO chief
WHO chief says a delayed rescue of those stranded on the hantavirus stricken ship could have made the situation more complicated.
“If they stayed longer on the ship, the situation could have been difficult,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organisation.
He said citizens of the countries passengers are returning to should know “there is nothing to fear, the risk is low, this is not another Covid-19”.
Health authorities say it's the first hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship. While there is no cure or vaccine for hantavirus, the WHO says early detection and treatment improves survival rates.
Namita Singh12 May 2026 06:00Watch: ‘This is not Covid': CDC boss attempts to reassure concerned public over hantavirus outbreak
Passengers from virus-stricken cruise ship fly to home countries for monitoring
The last remaining passengers on a cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak disembarked Monday and boarded flights to more than 20 countries to enter quarantine.
A French woman was the latest to be confirmed as infected, while an American was suspected of infection after initial testing.
Three cruise ship passengers have died, and six people with confirmed or suspected cases of hantavirus are being quarantined, according to the WHO. The lab results of the American who tested positive were inconclusive, WHO spokesperson Sarah Tyler said Monday.
Passengers began flying home aboard military and government planes Sunday after the MV Hondius anchored in the Canary Islands. Personnel in full-body protective gear and breathing masks escorted the travelers from ship to shore in Tenerife, an effort that concluded Monday.
Namita Singh12 May 2026 04:45In pictures: Passengers disembark from a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship
UK Health Official announces contact tracing as cruise ship passengers enter 45-day isolation
The UK health officials have begin contact tracing for those in touch with British passengers and crew of the Hantavirus-striken MV Hondius.
Announcing the measure, Chief Scientific Officer at the UK Health Security Agency Professor Robin May told BBC Radio 4: “Contact tracing is still very much ongoing and we'll continue to do that over the next few weeks actually, particularly on stopover points of the cruise ship on islands and, and similar.”
It came as the evacuated and repatriated crew and passengers were put in isolation for 45 days.
Professor May, however, attempted to assure viewers about the spread of Hantavirus, saying it is not the same as Covid-19 pandemic.
Explaining the need for contact tracing measure, he said: “People these days travel a lot as we all know, so it's important to keep up with where they are, but at the minute we have reached out and contacted a huge number of people already, and again my thanks to them for participating in this.
“But yes... the number of people we're contacting may continue to rise over the coming days, but most people have already been contacted."
Experts say hantavirus cases unlikely to have started from Ushuaia trip
Health officials have said the deadly outbreak of hantavirus may have been caused by a Dutch couple contracting the illness during a bird-watching outing in Ushuaia, Argentina.
Two Argentine officials investigating the origins of the outbreak on the ship, which sailed from southern Argentina, said this is now the government’s leading hypothesis.
The couple visited a landfill site during the birdwatching tour, authorities said, where they may have been exposed to rodents carrying the infection.
However, locally not everyone agrees with this theory.
Authorities previously said that Ushuaia and the surrounding province of Tierra del Fuego had never recorded a case of the hantavirus.
Juan Facundo Petrina, the province's Director General of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, told the BBC there have been “no record of hantavirus cases in our history.”
He stressed that it is unlikely the virus came from his province and the endemic zone for hantavirus lies more than 1,500km (930 miles) to the north.
Rebecca Whittaker12 May 2026 02:30NewerOlderJoin our commenting forum
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