Health authorities across Europe and Africa are tracking passengers who disembarked from the MV Hondius cruise ship after a hantavirus outbreak that has now left at least three people dead and several others seriously ill.
Dutch officials confirmed that around 40 passengers left the vessel during a stop at the remote island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic. Among them was the wife of a 70-year-old Dutch man who died onboard after falling ill during the voyage. She later travelled to South Africa on a commercial flight but collapsed and died in hospital, according to authorities.
The cruise operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, had previously confirmed only that the woman left the ship with her husband’s body, without acknowledging the broader disembarkation of passengers during the stopover.
The MV Hondius, flying a Dutch flag, remains stranded off the coast of Cape Verde with nearly 150 people onboard. The outbreak has also affected multiple passengers, with eight confirmed illnesses and three fatalities reported so far.
Spanish health authorities said the 14 Spanish nationals onboard will be transported to Tenerife before being moved to Madrid, where they will undergo quarantine lasting up to 45 days. They will be housed at the Hospital Central de la Defensa Gómez Ulla, which operates a high-level isolation unit established after the 2014 Ebola outbreak and previously used during COVID-19 repatriations.
The ship departed Argentina on 1 April for an Atlantic expedition that originally included stops in Antarctica and the Falkland Islands, but the itinerary was disrupted after the outbreak emerged.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said three suspected cases have been evacuated and are being transported to the Netherlands. He added that the overall public health risk remains low, based on current assessments.
WHO officials are also investigating whether limited human-to-human transmission may have occurred, although such cases are considered extremely rare. Early findings suggest the first infection likely occurred before boarding the vessel. Authorities have ruled out rodents onboard, noting no evidence of rats on the ship.
Cases linked to the outbreak have now been identified in multiple countries, including Switzerland, where health officials have confirmed a related infection. Investigators are examining whether a rare strain capable of limited human transmission may be involved.
Hantavirus is a group of rodent-borne viruses typically transmitted through inhalation of particles from dried droppings or urine. It can cause severe respiratory illness known as hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, as well as haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, which affects kidney function.
As contact tracing continues across continents, health authorities are working to identify all potentially exposed passengers and prevent further spread while monitoring those already evacuated from the ship.
