90-Second Read: Hantavirus: How are countries responding to the cruise virus?
Editorial voice
Noah Davidson
Published
Published May 13, 2026

The last passengers and some crew members have now left a Dutch cruise ship at the centre of an outbreak of Hantavirus, after disembarking at Granadilla port in south-east Tenerife. Some disembarked before the first confirmed case of Hantavirus was reported on 4 May. There are currently no recorded cases of Hantavirus in the country, with officials saying the risk remains "extremely low". Four California residents who may have been exposed to the virus are being monitored, state health officials said on Monday.
The country has confirmed its first case of Hantavirus after a French national developed systems while travelling on a chartered flight from Tenerife to Paris. The Public Health Agency of Canada has said this could be extended to 42 days, citing the Hantavirus's incubation period. A man who left the cruise in Saint Helena has tested positive for Hantavirus since returning home. The UK, US and EU are asking all citizens returning home from the virus-hit MV Hondius to self-isolate for about six weeks.
Three people, a Dutch couple and a German woman, had died after travelling on the ship, with two of them confirmed to have had the virus. Here's how countries are dealing with the virus: Twenty British nationals, one German national who lives in the UK and one Japanese passenger arrived at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside, north-west England late on Sunday. The group was flown to Manchester Airport on a chartered flight, with the UK's Health Security Agency (UKHSA) saying "strict infection control measures" were in place throughout the journey. Three of those people were aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship, while the fourth may have been exposed during an international flight, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has said, according to the BBC's US news partner CBS.
A total of 31 British nationals, a mix of passengers and crew, set sail on the cruise. The WHO has previously said the first two cases had "travelled through Argentina, Chile and Uruguay on a bird-watching trip which included visits to sites where the species of rat known to carry the virus was present". But WHO officials insisted that the risk of wider contagion was low "because of how the virus works".
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Based on reporting from BBC. Read the original source for full details.
Source published May 13, 4:36 AM EDT. Hantavirus Now reviewed reporting from BBC and summarized the key points below.
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