Cruise ship operator whose MV Hondius vessel experienced a hantavirus outbreak in May 2026 with multiple deaths and confirmed cases.
The MV Hondius cruise ship experienced a hantavirus outbreak in May that killed three passengers and sickened eight others with a rare, human-to-human transmissible Andes virus strain. Emergency evacuations were conducted off the Cape Verde coast, with infected passengers airlifted to hospitals in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and South Africa, while ports in Cape Verde and beyond restricted the vessel's access.
The WHO has said an outbreak of hantavirus on the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius is not the start of a pandemic, as the virus spreads through close, intimate contact unlike Covid-19. Five of eight suspected cases have been confirmed with three deaths, and the WHO documented person-to-person transmission for the first time.
8 May 2026 · Capital News →
The WHO has said an outbreak of hantavirus on the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius is not the start of a pandemic, as the virus spreads through close, intimate contact unlike Covid-19. Five of eight suspected cases have been confirmed with three deaths, and the WHO documented person-to-person transmission for the first time.
8 May 2026 · Capital News →
The World Health Organization said more hantavirus cases may emerge from a cruise ship outbreak that has killed three passengers, but expects the outbreak to remain "limited" if precautions are taken. Five confirmed and three suspected cases have been reported overall from the MV Hondius, including three deaths from the rare, human-to-human transmissible Andes virus strain.
8 May 2026 · Citizen Digital →
The World Health Organization said more hantavirus cases could emerge after three cruise ship passengers died, though it expected the outbreak to remain limited if precautions were taken. Health officials scrambled to trace the outbreak of a human-to-human transmissible strain on the MV Hondius vessel, with authorities noting the virus is less contagious than Covid-19.
8 May 2026 · The Standard →
A plane carrying a sick passenger from a hantavirus-hit cruise ship arrived in Amsterdam on Thursday after an emergency evacuation from the vessel off the Cape Verde coast. Two other evacuees had arrived in Amsterdam the previous day, with one taken to a hospital in Leiden and the other to Germany.
7 May 2026 · The Standard →
A former passenger from a cruise ship with a deadly hantavirus outbreak is being treated in a Zurich hospital after returning from South America in late April. The MV Hondius cruise ship has been at the centre of an international alert with three confirmed hantavirus cases linked to the vessel, including one fatality.
6 May 2026 · The Standard →
Emergency crews evacuated three people suspected of hantavirus infection from the cruise ship MV Hondius off Cape Verde on Wednesday, according to the World Health Organization. The rare strain can be transmitted between humans, and the evacuees will be flown to the Netherlands for treatment.
6 May 2026 · The Standard →
The MV Hondius, with 147 people on board, is seeking a port after a suspected hantavirus outbreak left three dead and five others with suspected cases. The WHO said the ship would head to Spain's Canary Islands, with two crew members requiring urgent evacuation potentially to the Netherlands.
5 May 2026 · The Standard →
Three people have died on the cruise ship MV Hondius in the Atlantic, with the WHO confirming one laboratory-confirmed case of hantavirus and five additional suspected cases. The ship was travelling from Argentina to Cape Verde, and one patient is in intensive care in South Africa.
4 May 2026 · Citizen Digital →
Cape Verde has banned passengers from a cruise ship anchored off its coast from disembarking after a suspected hantavirus outbreak killed three people aboard MV Hondius. The country's health authorities imposed the measure to protect the local population, though WHO Europe said the risk to the wider public remained low.
4 May 2026 · The Standard →
Passengers aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship are isolating after a suspected hantavirus outbreak killed three people, with Cape Verde refusing them entry. The ship, carrying 149 people from 23 nationalities, has implemented strict precautionary measures including isolation, hygiene protocols, and medical monitoring, with one passenger in intensive care in Johannesburg confirmed to have hantavirus.
4 May 2026 · Citizen Digital →