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2h ago

Tenerife Readies Sealed Evacuation of Hantavirus-Hit Cruise Ship

WHO will oversee a sealed operation with the public risk rated low.

Health workers in protective gear evacuate patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship into an ambulance at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
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, on May 6.
Australian consular officials are headed to Spain to assist four Australians and one permanent resident on board the hantavirus stricken vessel.
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Overview

  • WHO said Friday it has confirmed six Andes hantavirus cases tied to the MV Hondius, including three deaths.
  • The ship is expected to reach Tenerife on Sunday for a controlled evacuation conducted offshore under Spanish and WHO supervision.
  • Passengers will transfer by small boats to guarded buses and a cordoned airport zone before boarding direct repatriation flights.
  • The United States and the United Kingdom are sending aircraft, with American passengers set for quarantine at Nebraska Medicine’s specialized unit.
  • More than two dozen people who disembarked on April 24 are under international contact tracing, with a suspected case in Spain under testing and a KLM flight attendant testing negative.