A cruise ship hit with a lethal hantavirus outbreak arrived in Spain’s Canary Islands Sunday (Might 10, 2026), the place a lot of the almost 150 individuals on board will probably be evacuated and flown dwelling after weeks at sea.
The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius arrived on the Spanish port of Granadilla escorted by a Civil Guard vessel, AFP journalists reported, confirmed by information from the maritime monitoring service VesselFinder.
Passengers and a number of the crew are anticipated to evacuate earlier than the ship, the place an outbreak of hantavirus led to the deaths of three individuals, continues on its solution to the Netherlands.
Three passengers from the ship — a Dutch husband and spouse and a German girl — have died, whereas others have fallen sick with the uncommon illness, which often spreads amongst rodents.
The one hantavirus kind that may transmit from individual to individual — the Andes virus — has been confirmed amongst those that have examined optimistic, fuelling worldwide concern.
“We classify everyone on board as what we name a high-risk contact,” WHO’s epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention director Maria Van Kerkhove mentioned Saturday (Might 9, 2026).
However the danger to most people and the individuals of the Canaries remained low, she added.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who arrived in Spain on Saturday (Might 9, 2026) and is anticipated to supervise the ship evacuation, gave the identical assurance and thanked the individuals of Tenerife for his or her solidarity.
“I want you to listen to me clearly,” Mr. Tedros wrote in an open letter to the individuals of Tenerife on Saturday (Might 9, 2026): “This isn’t one other Covid.”
After arriving in Tenerife, he mentioned he was assured the operation could be a hit. “Spain is prepared and ready,” he instructed reporters.
Each day life uninterrupted
On the port of Granadilla de Abona early Sunday (Might 10, 2026) morning, AFP journalists noticed white tents had been arrange alongside the marina and the police had secured a part of the port.
Regardless of the state of affairs, every day life appeared largely regular: some individuals had been swimming, others buying on the market or sitting at cafe terraces.
“There are worries there might be a hazard, however truthfully, I do not see individuals being very involved,” mentioned David Parada, a lottery vendor.
Regional authorities have refused to permit the vessel to dock. As a substitute, it can stay offshore whereas passengers are screened and evacuated between Sunday and Monday — the one window well being officers say the climate will enable.
Cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions mentioned earlier that “all friends and a restricted variety of crew members” had been anticipated to start to depart the ship from round 0700 GMT.
“As soon as disembarked, they are going to be transferred instantly to their allotted plane,” the Dutch agency mentioned.
The WHO mentioned Friday (Might 8, 2026) it had confirmed six instances out of eight suspected ones. There are not any suspected instances remaining on the ship.
The MV Hondius is crusing from Cape Verde, the place three contaminated individuals had already been evacuated earlier within the week.
Monitoring and tracing
In Madrid, Spain’s well being and inside ministers insisted there could be “no contact” with the native inhabitants, and that passengers would depart “by nationality teams”.
“All areas (the passengers) go by means of will probably be sealed off,” the inside minister mentioned, including a maritime exclusion zone could be in pressure across the vessel.
The MV Hondius left Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1 for a cruise throughout the Atlantic Ocean to Cape Verde.
Provincial well being official Juan Petrina mentioned there was an “virtually zero probability” the Dutch man linked to the outbreak contracted the illness in Ushuaia based mostly on the virus’s incubation interval, amongst different components.
Well being authorities in a number of international locations have been monitoring passengers who had already disembarked and anybody who might have come into contact with them.
A flight attendant on the Dutch airline KLM, who got here into contact with an contaminated passenger from the cruise ship and later confirmed gentle signs, examined unfavourable for hantavirus, the WHO mentioned Friday (Might 8, 2026).
The passenger — the spouse of the primary particular person to die within the outbreak — had briefly been on a airplane sure from Johannesburg to the Netherlands on April 25, however was eliminated earlier than take-off.
She died the next day in a Johannesburg hospital.
Spanish authorities mentioned a girl on that flight was being examined for hantavirus, having developed signs at dwelling in japanese Spain. She is in isolation within the hospital, mentioned well being secretary Javier Padilla.
Two Singapore residents who had been on the ship examined unfavourable for the illness however would stay in quarantine, the city-state’s authorities mentioned Friday (Might 8, 2026).
British well being authorities additionally mentioned Friday (Might 8, 2026) there was a suspected case on Tristan da Cunha, one of many world’s most remoted settlements with round 220 individuals.
Revealed – Might 10, 2026 11:43 am IST