World Health Organization: 5 hantavirus cases confirmed from cruise ship

GENEVA - The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday that five hantavirus cases have now been confirmed aboard the Dutch-flagged cruise ship Hondius.

"So far, eight cases have been reported, including three deaths," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. "Five of the eight cases have been confirmed as hantavirus, while the remaining three are suspected."

He added that the cases involve the Andes strain, found in Latin America and the only hantavirus known to allow limited human-to-human transmission.

The outbreak on the Hondius - a small expedition vessel carrying around 150 passengers from multiple countries that departed southern Argentina in early April - has drawn global attention.

The ship remained anchored off Cape Verde for several days as reports of the outbreak emerged and is now en route to Spain's Canary Islands.

Three people have died, either on board or after being evacuated, while contact tracing is under way in multiple countries to identify those potentially exposed.

The vessel's operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, disclosed on Thursday that 29 passengers - along with the body of a Dutch man who had died earlier - disembarked on the remote British Atlantic island of Saint Helena on April 24.

"While this is a serious incident, WHO assesses the public health risk as low," Tedros said.

"It also shows why the International Health Regulations exist, and how they work. WHO is working with multiple governments and partners on the response, under those Regulations. Our priorities are to ensure the affected patients receive care, that the remaining passengers on the ship are kept safe and treated with dignity, and to prevent any further spread of the virus."

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.