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. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO).

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. Because as it is right now, there's no specific treatment for this virus other than supportive care, like oxygen, fluids, hydration, analgesics.

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. Tedros also warned the public to stay vigilant against the virus which has already claimed three lives on the cruise ship. Janet Nesheiwat, a former Trump-tapped nominee for Surgeon General, told Fox News on Saturday. If they start to develop any symptoms, we can intervene early.