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U.S. Ends 42‑Day Hantavirus Quarantine for 18 Hondius Passengers

The move closes a multinational containment effort that found no U.S. infections and highlighted disputes over quarantine authority and state monitoring capacity.

The MV Hondius cruise ship arrives at the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands, Monday, May 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)
Passengers are being disembarked from the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo)
Cruise ship MV Hondius docks off Cape Verde port, as passengers were not allowed off the ship, while health authorities investigated suspected cases of hantavirus aboard the vessel, in Praia Port, Cape Verde, in this screengrab obtained from a video, May 4, 2026. REUTERS TV via REUTERS
Passengers and a crew exposed to hantavirus on the Antarctic cruise ship MV Hondius have completed their 42-day isolation at Bullsbrook Centre for National Resilience and are pictured at Perth Airport T3 this morning.

Overview

  • Federal officials lifted the 42‑day monitoring period on June 21, releasing all 18 Americans who were repatriated from the MV Hondius after consistent negative tests and no confirmed U.S. hantavirus cases.
  • The outbreak on the Dutch‑flagged MV Hondius produced at least 13 cases and three deaths, and laboratory testing identified the Andes virus, a rare strain that can spread between people in uncommon circumstances.
  • Sequencing done during the response showed no mutations tied to increased transmissibility, and the WHO’s working hypothesis remains that the index case acquired the virus on land before boarding.
  • The response exposed legal and operational tensions: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. signed a formal order keeping passenger Angela Perryman at the Nebraska facility despite a CDC medical review, and some states resisted federal demands for round‑the‑clock home monitoring.
  • Authorities said the episode tested thin U.S. biocontainment capacity and international logistics — from specialized flights and ship disinfection to use of the UNMC National Quarantine Unit and Australia’s Bullsbrook facility — raising questions about future repatriation and quarantine governance.