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Hantavirus Outbreak on MV Hondius Kills Three as Ship Heads to Tenerife
Three passengers have died from Andes hantavirus aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship, with five confirmed cases and four suspected. The vessel is sailing toward the Canary Islands where British nationals will undergo testing and quarantine before repatriation. Health officials stress the risk of wider spread remains low as the virus is not easily transmitted between people.
May 8, 5:57 PM·3m read27 sources
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Three passengers aboard the MV Hondius have died from an outbreak of Andes hantavirus, a rare virus typically transmitted by rodents. Five cases have been laboratory confirmed and four remain suspected, including two British men. The ship, which had been off Cape Verde, is now heading to Tenerife in the Canary Islands where it is expected to arrive on Sunday.
Health officials from the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control are aboard conducting assessments. Two doctors are also on the vessel. The World Health Organization said morale among passengers has improved since the ship began moving toward Tenerife.
British authorities are preparing to meet the ship with testing and quarantine protocols. Around 22 British passengers and crew are expected to remain onboard upon arrival. Those who test negative and show no symptoms will be flown back to the UK the same day on a medically equipped charter flight.
They will not be permitted to use public transport after landing. The Foreign Office said 30 British nationals were linked to the ship in total, with seven having left earlier in St. Helena. A 69-year-old British man who tested positive remains in intensive care in Johannesburg but is improving.
Another Briton, expedition guide Martin Anstee, 56, was evacuated to the Netherlands and is also recovering. Two other Britons who returned earlier are self-isolating in the UK despite showing no symptoms.
The hantavirus involved is the Andes strain, the only type known to spread from person to person. Such transmission is rare and typically requires close, prolonged contact. Incubation can last up to six weeks, and symptoms may take as long as eight weeks to appear.
Initial symptoms resemble the flu, including fever, aches and chills. In severe cases breathing becomes difficult and the heart struggles to pump blood. The strain has a fatality rate of about 40 percent. " — Marion Koopmans, virologist at Erasmus Medical Center (The Atlantic, May 2026) Experts note that most hantaviruses cannot spread among humans and require exposure to infected rodent bodily fluids.
