90-Second Read: 6 passengers from Hantavirus-hit ship arrive in Australia for 3-week quarantine

Six passengers from a cruise ship hit by a Hantavirus outbreak have arrived in Australia for a quarantine expected to last at least three weeks. A jet carrying passengers from the Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius arrives at RAAF Base Pearce in Perth, Australia, from the Netherlands on Friday, May 15, 2026. Australian Health Minister Mark Butler said the government would implement one of world's strongest quarantine responses to the outbreak. The passengers, crew and a doctor who accompanied them were taken by bus to the nearby Bullsbrook quarantine facility.

The six passengers all tested negative for the virus before they left the Netherlands, had been assessed by a doctor during the flight and would undergo more detailed health assessments at Bullsbrook, Butler said. The MV Hondius ship was on a cruise from Argentina to the Antarctic and then to several isolated islands in the South Atlantic Ocean when the Hantavirus outbreak was identified. Three people among the 11 cases from the ship have died.

The Gulfstream long-range business jet carrying them from the Netherlands landed at RAAF Base Pearce outside the Western Australia state capital, Perth. A decision had yet to be made on what precautions should be taken for the remainder of the 42-day period of potential incubation that the World Health Organization had identified, Butler said. With the evacuation of all passengers and many crew members completed, the MV Hondius is now sailing back to the Netherlands, where it will be cleaned and disinfected.