90-Second Read: Americans to be evacuated from Hantavirus cruise ship as global health chief travels to quarantine island

M/V Hondius cruise ship carrying 150 passengers, including 17 Americans, will anchor off Spain's Canary Islands after a Hantavirus outbreak that has claimed three lives. A deadly Hantavirus outbreak on a Dutch cruise ship has prompted a global health operation. Health workers disembark from the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius cruise ship off Cape Verde on May 4, 2026, after three passengers died and several others fell seriously ill in a suspected Hantavirus outbreak. In a lengthy Saturday morning message posted to X, Ghebreyesus assured the globe that the risk Hantavirus poses to public health remains low. The current public health risk from Hantavirus remains low.

The virus aboard the MV Hondius is the Andes strain of Hantavirus. The cruise ship MV Hondius is stationary off the port of Praia, Cape Verde, on May 3, 2026, amid an outbreak of severe acute respiratory illness that has caused two deaths and left a third patient in intensive care in Johannesburg, South Africa. The patient tested positive for Hantavirus, according to South African health officials. The WHO clarifies low human-to-human spread for the Andes virus strain, unlike COVID-19, and the CDC classifies this as a Level 3 emergency. I know that when you hear the word 'outbreak' and watch a ship sail toward your shores, memories surface that none of us have fully put to rest.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO). Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, speaks during an event. Tedros also warned the public to stay vigilant against the virus which has already claimed three lives on the cruise ship. Three people have lost their lives, and our hearts go out to their families," he wrote, though again reiterated that public health risk was low. But I need you to hear me clearly: this is not another COVID-19.

The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment. My colleagues and I have said this unequivocally, and I will say it again to you now," he continued. As I have said many times: viruses do not care about politics, and they do not respect borders. The best immunity any of us has is solidarity," the WHO head continued. If they start to develop any symptoms, we can intervene early.