A multi-day international repatriation operation for passengers and crew of the cruise ship MV Hondius, the center of a deadly hantavirus outbreak, stretched into Monday, with U.S. health officials confirming one American passenger has tested positive for the rare virus.
The outbreak has already claimed three lives: a Dutch couple and a German citizen, with multiple other people falling ill. Hantavirus, a pathogen most commonly carried and spread by rodents, has no licensed vaccines or targeted treatments currently available. The strain confirmed among infected people on board is the Andes virus, the only hantavirus variant capable of human-to-human transmission, a detail that has spurred global public health concern. The ship originally departed Ushuaia, Argentina in early April, where the virus is endemic.
Despite the outbreak, global and Spanish public health officials have emphasized that the broader risk to global public health remains low, pushing back against unnecessary comparisons to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The Canary Islands regional government had initially refused to allow the vessel to dock, only granting permission for it to anchor offshore when it arrived early Sunday, with authorities stressing there would be no uncontrolled contact between evacuees and the local population of Tenerife.
On Sunday, 94 people from 19 different nationalities were evacuated from the ship, which carries a total of nearly 150 passengers and crew spanning 23 nationalities. Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia confirmed that all passengers who disembarked on Sunday were asymptomatic and passed a final medical screening before leaving the vessel. AFP journalists on the ground observed evacuees, clad in blue protective medical suits, disembarking at Granadilla de Abona’s industrial port before being transported via Spanish military buses in a convoy to Tenerife South Airport for repatriation flights.
Evacuation operations were scheduled to conclude by Monday, after which the ship will refuel and depart for the Netherlands with roughly 30 remaining crew members that evening. Adverse weather forecast for later Monday forced authorities to accelerate the repatriation timeline to avoid endangering the operation.
Even with pre-departure screenings in place, multiple countries have reported cases among evacuees. Shortly after the first evacuations began, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced on social platform X that one of five French evacuees returning to Paris showed active hantavirus symptoms, and all five were placed into immediate strict isolation. Late Sunday, U.S. health authorities confirmed the positive mild PCR test result for one American passenger, noting a second American passenger has mild symptoms.
By Sunday evening, repatriation flights had already carried groups of passengers to dozens of countries across the globe. A flight carrying dozens of passengers of multiple nationalities landed in the Netherlands, while other flights departed for Canada, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the U.S., among other destinations. A plane carrying 20 UK passengers landed in Manchester Sunday, with all passengers transferred to a Liverpool-area hospital for testing and 72 hours of quarantine. Greece’s health ministry confirmed a Greek male evacuee will complete a 45-day mandatory quarantine in an Athens hospital, while 14 Spanish citizens will isolate at a military hospital in Madrid.
The World Health Organization has recommended a 42-day quarantine period and active daily symptom monitoring for all evacuees, per Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention. However, the U.S. has adopted a more flexible approach: acting CDC Director Jay Bhattacharya noted that the 17 American passengers on board would not be required to quarantine at Nebraska’s specialized medical center by default. Instead, passengers will be able to complete isolation at home based on individual risk assessment, as long as they do not put other people at risk during travel. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who was on Tenerife observing the evacuation operation, warned that this U.S. policy carries potential public health risks. A group of American passengers was expected to land in Omaha, Nebraska early Monday local time.
Investigations into the origin of the outbreak are still ongoing. The WHO believes the initial infection occurred before the cruise departed Argentina, with subsequent spread between passengers on the cramped vessel. However, Argentine provincial health official Juan Petrina pushed back on this narrative, arguing that based on the virus’ multi-week incubation period and other evidence, the Dutch patient linked to the initial outbreak had an almost zero chance of contracting the virus in Ushuaia. Health authorities across multiple nations are currently tracking all passengers who have already disembarked the vessel, as well as any close contacts that may have been exposed to the virus.