Three Dead, Five Confirmed With Hantavirus on South Atlantic Cruise

Health authorities are monitoring a growing hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship, with five cases confirmed by the World Health Organization and three deaths reported. A Dutch couple and a German national died after contracting the virus during the voyage on the MV Hondius.

The UK Health Security Agency confirmed two British cases connected to the outbreak on board the MV Hondius and is assessing an additional suspected hantavirus infection on the remote South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha involving a British national.

The MV Hondius is due to dock in the Spanish island of Tenerife in the coming days. British passengers who remain asymptomatic will be flown back to the United Kingdom and asked to isolate for 45 days. Seven British nationals disembarked earlier in St Helena, of whom two are already isolating in the UK mainland, four remain on the island, and one has been traced outside the country.

Health officials have contacted passengers from at least 12 countries who left the ship earlier in April. Several additional suspected cases are under investigation. Argentina is investigating its link to the deadly hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship, while Spain has agreed to let the hantavirus-hit cruise ship dock in the Canary Islands.

A picture released by Argentina's Health Ministry on May 6, 2026 shows a scientist from the Malbran Institute holding a container used to diagnose the Andes hantavirus. The Andean strain of hantavirus identified in some cases can, in rare instances, spread between people.

Hantavirus is typically transmitted through contact with infected rodents, though rare cases of human-to-human transmission have been recorded.

The current hantavirus outbreak is the first known outbreak of this type of virus linked to cruise ship travel. coli. According to the Cruise Lines International Association, cases of gastrointestinal illnesses are rare on cruise ships compared to other settings.