hantavirus | DD News

May 8, 2026 3:42 PM

New hantavirus case suspected on remote island as contact tracing continues

A new suspected case of hantavirus was identified in a British national on the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha on Friday, as efforts continue to trace passengers of the luxury cruise ship hit by the virus and their immediate contacts. The British health security agency did not disclose further details of the new suspected case on the world's remotest inhabited island, home to only around 200 people, where the cruise ship made a stop on April 15. Three people - a Dutch couple and a Ge...

May 7, 2026 3:33 PM

Countries scramble to track passengers of virus-hit cruise ship

Countries worldwide scrambled on Thursday to trace people who had left the cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak before it got marooned off the coast of Cape Verde, to prevent further spread of the disease. Three people - a Dutch couple and a German national - died in the outbreak on the MV Hondius. Eight people, including a Swiss citizen, are suspected to have contracted the virus, according to the World Health Organization. The Dutch government has said around 40 passengers had disembarke...

May 7, 2026 10:52 AM

Hantavirus-hit cruise ship heads to Spain after three people evacuated

A luxury cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak and marooned since Sunday off the coast of Cape Verde left for Spain on Wednesday, a Reuters witness said, after three people, two of them seriously ill, were evacuated. The MV Hondius, with nearly 150 people on board, is expected to dock in Spain's Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, within three days, Spain's Health Minister Monica Garcia said, adding that those still on board were not presenting any symptoms of the disease. Once in Tener...

May 6, 2026 10:18 AM

Hantavirus-hit cruise ship to head to Spain after permission granted to dock in Canary Islands

A luxury cruise ship that has been hit by an outbreak of the deadly hantavirus was preparing to travel from Cape Verde towards Europe on Wednesday after the Spanish government gave permission for it to dock in the Canary Islands. The Spanish Health Ministry said it had been asked by the World Health Organisation and the European Union to take the MV Hondius "in accordance with international law and humanitarian principles". It said it would also on Tuesday evening receive a medical flight carr...

May 5, 2026 12:16 PM

How an ocean cruise turned into a hantavirus nightmare

The first victim of a suspected hantavirus outbreak had already been dead 21 days when fellow passenger Jake Rosmarin posted a video about cows he had seen on a remote volcanic island in the Atlantic, showing no indication he was aware his cruise ship was about to be quarantined. But later that evening, on May 2, Rosmarin posted: "For those who have seen recent news, yes, I am currently onboard the M/V Hondius," adding that he did not wish to say more, "out of respect for those involved." The ...

May 4, 2026 4:56 PM

WHO says risk to public is low after suspected hantavirus outbreak hits ship

The World Health Organization said on Monday there was no need for panic and the risk to the public was low after three people died and three fell ill following a suspected outbreak of the rodent-borne hantaviruson a cruise shipin the Atlantic. Netherlands-based Oceanwide Expeditions said it was "managing a serious medical situation" on a polar expedition ship, the MV Hondius, which was off Cape Verde, an island nation off Africa's western coast. The cruise left Argentina about three weeks ...

May 4, 2026 9:55 AM

What is the hantavirus that killed three cruise ship passengers?

Three people have died and three are ill after a Netherlands-based cruise ship was hit by a suspected outbreak of hantavirus, authorities and media reports said on Sunday. Here is information about the virus. SPREAD BY RODENTS Hantavirus is primarily spread by rodents but can be transmitted between people in rare cases, according to the World Health Organization. People most typically become infected when virus in rodent droppings, saliva and urine becomes airborne, such as when areas where ...