90-Second Read: US Passenger Evacuated From Cruise Ship Tests Positive For Hantavirus (Live)

France's Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said a woman, who is among five French nationals evacuated from the vessel, has tested positive for the Hantavirus. Most people will never be exposed to this." The World Health Organization confirms the number of lab-proven Hantavirus cases has risen to five and there are still at least three additional suspected cases among cruise ship passengers and crew. The South African Department of Health says tests performed on infected passengers of the the MV Hondius confirm the Andes virus, one of the deadliest Hantavirus diseases with a roughly 40% case fatality rate, is what infected passengers onboard the ship. The passengers and a "limited number" of crew members onboard the MV Hondius began disembarking at the port of Granadilla, Spain, on Sunday morning, cruise ship.

Oceanwide Expeditions, operator of the cruise ship MV Hondius, says at least 29 living passengers from 12 countries disembarked the ship and went home after the death of the first passenger on board (before officials knew of the outbreak). Ghebreyesus says none of the remaining passengers or crew aboard the MV Hondius are symptomatic, but that "it is possible more cases will be reported" because it can be up to six weeks before those infected with the Andes variant of Hantavirus show symptoms. May 4, 2026 The World Health Organization ⁠confirms a strain of Hantavirus is spreading aboard the ship, with two lab-confirmed cases and five more suspected cases. Thursday, May 7, 2026 President Donald Trump tells reporters the Hantavirus outbreak is "very much" under control and "it should be.

One of the 17 American evacuees tested positive while another is showing mild symptoms, the HHS said. None of the passengers were exhibiting symptoms of the virus, Spanish Health Minister Mónica García said at a press conference on Sunday. He insisted the public health risk remains "low." A Dutch flight attendant who has developed mild symptoms is being tested for the disease after she briefly came into contact with one of the deceased Hantavirus patients. May 6, 2026 The CDC reportedly tells employees Luis Rodríguez, the American official responsible for public health on cruise ships, is retiring. Robin May, a British health official, told The Guardian the passengers who will soon return home may be asked to self-isolate, most likely at home, for 45 days.

Argentine officials suggested the Hantavirus outbreak could have originated from a bird-watching outing that took the deceased Dutch couple to a landfill, where they may have been exposed to rodents carrying the virus before boarding the ship, the Associated Press reported. Health officials confirm the deadly Hantavirus outbreak is of a particular disease strain called Andes, one of the deadliest variants of the Hantavirus and the only known strain that transmits from person to person. CNN cites unnamed health officials in reporting the estimated 17 Americans onboard the cruise ship will be escorted on a charter flight and taken to the National Quarantine Unit, a federally funded quarantine facility in Omaha. People typically get Hantavirus from contact with rodents like rats and mice, normally when exposed to their urine, droppings.