The final group of passengers and crew from the MV Hondius, a cruise ship that experienced a hantavirus outbreak, were evacuated from Spain’s Canary Islands to the Netherlands on Monday. As the operation concluded, U.S. health officials confirmed that one of the repatriated American passengers has tested positive for the virus.
The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that two planes carrying 28 evacuees landed at an airbase in Eindhoven. The group included six passengers and 19 crew members from the ship, which had been docked in Tenerife. According to the ministry, the passengers—four from Australia, one from New Zealand, and a British resident of Australia—will enter a quarantine facility before being repatriated.
The arrivals complete a multi-national effort that saw 94 people evacuated from the ship and returned to approximately 20 countries for quarantine. The evacuations began 41 days after the MV Hondius departed from southern Argentina and nine days after the first positive test for the respiratory illness was confirmed.
Since the outbreak began, three people who were on the ship have died: a Dutch couple and a German national. The World Health Organization (WHO) stated Monday that there were seven confirmed cases of the virus, a figure that did not yet include the newly announced U.S. case. The strain involved is the Andes virus, which the WHO notes is the only hantavirus variant known to be capable of limited person-to-person transmission. The organization believes the first infection occurred before the voyage started, followed by transmission among those on board.
In the United States, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Monday that one of the 18 American passengers from the ship had tested positive. The individual is being monitored along with 15 others at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Two other U.S. passengers, a couple, are at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention team had been sent to Tenerife. “We have this under control, and we’re not worried about it,” he stated.
Officials have said the risk to the public remains low. In Tenerife, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “There is nothing to fear. The risk is low. This is not another COVID.” The WHO has recommended a 42-day quarantine period for all passengers.
Meanwhile, French Minister of Health Stephanie Rist reported that the condition of a French passenger who had previously tested positive was deteriorating.
The MV Hondius is now en route to Rotterdam, Netherlands, where it will undergo disinfection, according to its operator, Oceanwide Expeditions. The company confirmed that 25 crew members and two medical staff remain on the vessel, which is also carrying the body of the deceased German passenger.
