Officials have confirmed that an American citizen and a French woman who had previously shown symptoms tested positive for hantavirus after being evacuated from a cruise ship and traveling back to their home countries.
On 11 May 2026, relevant authorities confirmed that one American citizen and one French woman, evacuated from a cruise ship facing a hantavirus outbreak, tested positive after both showed symptoms while being repatriated to their home countries.
After the positive test results, Spanish authorities—the first point of passenger screening—affirmed the strict hygiene measures they enforced during the evacuation of 94 people from 19 nationalities from the cruise ship MV Hondius, which was anchored off the coast of Tenerife last Sunday.
Spain's Ministry of Health stated it has implemented "all possible measures" to contain the virus spread during the evacuation, with medical teams closely monitoring passengers from the ship to Tenerife's airport and conducting rigorous health screenings.
The Dutch-flagged vessel has become a global concern after three passengers died from this rare virus, which typically spreads through rodents and currently has no specific treatment.
However, health officials confirmed that the global public health risk remains low and emphasized that this event is not comparable to the COVID-19 outbreak.
On Monday, Stephanie Rist, France's Minister of Health, announced that the French woman is among five French nationals quarantined in Paris after evacuation. She began showing symptoms Sunday night, and her test ultimately came back positive.
Later Sunday night, the U.S. Department of Health reported that one evacuated American had "mild symptoms," while another tested positive for Andes virus, a hantavirus strain capable of human-to-human transmission.
Spanish authorities emphasized that the French patient "began showing symptoms during the flight, not while still on the ship," and the American who tested positive "showed no symptoms while in Cape Verde," the port where MV Hondius stopped before arriving at the Canary Islands.
"However, U.S. authorities decided to treat this individual as an infected case (positive test). Therefore, they requested a separate evacuation, which was carried out using a different ship," the Spanish officials said.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and health agencies in various countries, a total of eight confirmed cases have been reported in this outbreak so far, with two additional individuals classified as high-suspicion cases, affecting citizens from six countries.
Investigations are ongoing to identify other suspected cases and those who had close contact with infected individuals, as health officials in multiple countries work quickly to trace passengers who disembarked earlier and anyone who may have had close exposure.
Minister Rist reported identifying 22 additional close contacts among French nationals, including eight who traveled on the 25 April flight from Saint Helena to Johannesburg and 14 who flew from Johannesburg to Amsterdam.
A female Dutch passenger on MV Hondius who died from hantavirus had traveled on the flight to Johannesburg and subsequently boarded a plane to Amsterdam briefly but was removed from the flight before departure.
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Source:cna