90-Second Read: Spain readies for evacuations as a Hantavirus-hit cruise ship heads for the Canary Islands

Spanish authorities are preparing to receive over 140 passengers and crew from a Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship headed for the Canary Islands. Despite a cruise ship outbreak of a rare rodent-borne illness, global health officials say the risk to the general public remains low because Hantavirus germs do not easily spread between people. Passengers on the the Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, watch epidemiologists board the boat in Praia, during their voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. On Friday, the WHO said a flight attendant on a plane briefly boarded by an infected cruise passenger has tested negative for Hantavirus. But the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases.

Health authorities across four continents were tracking down and monitoring more than two dozen passengers who disembarked the ship before the deadly outbreak was detected. It wasn't until May 2 that health authorities first confirmed Hantavirus in a ship passenger, the WHO said. She was a passenger on the same flight as the Dutch woman who died in Johannesburg after traveling on the cruise ship, Secretary of ⁠State for Health Javier Padilla told reporters. The vessel is expected to arrive Sunday at the Spanish island of Tenerife, off the coast of West Africa, and passengers will be taken to a "completely isolated, cordoned-off area," said the head of Spain's emergency services, Virginia Barcones. Both passengers told AP they're worried about how they'll be treated in Spain and once home.

The World Health Organization considers the risk to the wider public from the outbreak as low. This is not a new COVID." Hantavirus is usually spread by the inhalation of contaminated rodent droppings and isn't easily transmitted between people. And we're scared by this." Officials sought to reassure the public in the Canary Islands about possible exposure to the virus among the general population. Spanish health officials said Friday a woman in the southeastern Spanish province of Alicante has symptoms consistent with a Hantavirus infection and is being tested. Symptoms usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure.

We've heard that this is a millionaires' cruise, and it's the complete opposite of reality. The cruise passenger briefly aboard that flight — a Dutch woman whose husband died on the ship — was too ill to stay on the international flight to Europe and was taken off the plane in Johannesburg, where she died. They were also scrambling to trace others who may have come into contact with them. On April 24, nearly two weeks after the first passenger had died on board, more than two dozen people from at least 12 different countries left the ship without contact tracing, Dutch officials and the ship's operator said Thursday. The Dutch public health service is undertaking contact tracing on passengers who had contact with the ill woman before she left.