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WHO Says Public Risk Low as Hantavirus Cruise Ship Heads to Tenerife for Offshore Transfer

Officials plan sealed transfers with close‑contact tracing for a virus that rarely passes between people.

FILE - Health workers in protective gear evacuate patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship into an ambulance at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu, File)
A drone view of the cruise ship MV Hondius, carrying passengers suspected of having cases of hantavirus on board, leaves Praia, Cape Verde, May 6, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
TOPSHOT - This aerial view shows health personnel assisting patients onto a boat from the cruise ship MV Hondius, while stationary off the port of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, on May 6, 2026. Evacuations were taking place on May 6, 2026 from a cruise ship stricken with a deadly outbreak of hantavirus, the World Health Organization said, as experts confirmed a rare strain that can be transmitted between humans. Three people, two crew members and one other person, thought to be infected with the virus were being taken off the MV Hondius, anchored off Cape Verde, the WHO said. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)
The MV Hondius cruise ship departs the port in Praia, Cape Verde, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

Overview

  • WHO, which on Friday reiterated that the public risk is low, said the MV Hondius will anchor off Tenerife with controlled transfers and repatriation flights expected to begin Sunday.
  • Health agencies report five laboratory‑confirmed and three suspected cases linked to the voyage, including three deaths, and tests identify the Andes strain known for rare person‑to‑person spread after prolonged close contact.
  • A KLM flight attendant who interacted with an infected passenger tested negative, and WHO says there are currently no suspected cases on the ship.
  • Contact tracing now spans multiple countries after 30 people disembarked at Saint Helena and one symptomatic passenger flew to Johannesburg, with a suspected case also monitored on Tristan da Cunha.
  • Because Andes hantavirus can incubate for up to six weeks, officials say more cases could surface, though early genetic reads align with known South American strains rather than a new variant.