Last Evacuees from Hantavirus-Hit Cruise Ship Land in Netherlands; US Passenger Tests Positive

The last two evacuation flights carrying passengers and crew from the MV Hondius cruise ship, where a deadly hantavirus outbreak occurred, have landed in the Netherlands, the country's foreign ministry announced Monday (May 11). That same day, an American passenger repatriated from the ship tested positive for the virus.

The flights carried 28 evacuees, including six passengers and 19 crew members, from the MV Hondius, which had docked in Spain's Canary Islands. Among the passengers were four Australians, one New Zealander, and a British national residing in Australia. They are expected to stay at a quarantine facility near Eindhoven Air Base before being repatriated.

This marks the end of a complex operation in which 94 people were evacuated and repatriated to about 20 countries for quarantine. The operation took place 41 days after the MV Hondius departed southern Argentina and nine days after the first positive hantavirus test result. Three people — a Dutch couple and a German national — have died since the outbreak began on the ship.

The virus strain involved, known as Andes virus, is typically spread by rodents and is the only hantavirus variant known to have limited human-to-human transmission.

One of 18 US Passengers Tests Positive

Officials from the US Department of Health and Human Services said Monday that one of the 18 American passengers evacuated from the ship had tested positive at a bio-containment unit in Nebraska. The infected person is being monitored along with 15 others at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, while two others, a married couple, are at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. expressed confidence in the US response, telling reporters at the White House: “We had a CDC team in Tenerife (Spain). We had planes ready to pick up patients. We are on top of it and not concerned about it.” President Donald Trump, asked about his administration's handling of the hantavirus outbreak, said things were “fine”.

The MV Hondius left Argentina — where hantavirus is endemic — on April 1 for a transatlantic voyage to Cape Verde. The WHO believes the first infection occurred before the trip began, followed by transmission among people on the ship. Authorities say the risk to the community from the virus remains low, as it usually requires close, prolonged contact with an infected person to spread.

'This Is Not Another COVID'

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking at the Tenerife port in the Canary Islands, reassured passengers and the public: “There is nothing to fear. The risk is low. This is not another COVID.” He said the WHO has recommended a 42-day quarantine for all passengers.

As of Monday, the WHO said there were seven confirmed infections and two probable cases — one person who died before being tested and another on the remote South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, where testing is unavailable. It is unclear whether the American passenger is included in that count.

Confirmed infections also include a French passenger who tested positive after the ship docked in the Canaries on Sunday (May 10). Her condition is worsening, French Health Minister Stephanie Rist said. Citizens of six countries have been affected.

The Hondius is currently sailing from Tenerife to Rotterdam, Netherlands, where it will dock for decontamination. Twenty-five crew members and two medical staff remain on board, according to operator Oceanwide Expeditions, which also said the ship is carrying the body of a German passenger who died during the voyage.

In a video shared by Oceanwide Expeditions on Monday, Captain Jan Dobrogowski thanked everyone on board for their “solidarity and quiet strength” and praised the crew's “courage and selfless determination.” “I could not imagine sailing under these circumstances with a better group of people, both guests and crew,” Dobrogowski said.