Hantavirus: 3 evacuated from cruise ship as new Swiss case confirmed – National

Three patients with suspected hantavirus infections were evacuated from a cruise ship and are being flown to the Netherlands on Wednesday, said Oceanwide Expeditions, the Dutch company that operates the cruise ship.

The vessel is currently at the centre of a deadly outbreak and remains off Cape Verde with nearly 150 people on board waiting to head to Spain’s Canary Islands.

Eight cases have been recorded, three of which have been confirmed by laboratory testing, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Three people have died from the illness, which originates in rodents but can spread person-to-person in some cases.

There is no specific treatment or cure for hantavirus, but early medical attention can increase the chance of survival.

“We can confirm that the three individuals previously indicated as awaiting medical transfer have been successfully disembarked from m/v Hondius and are now en route via medicalized aircraft to locations able to provide specialized care and appropriate medical screening,” Oceanwide Expeditions said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Two of the individuals remain in a serious condition. The third, while currently asymptomatic, was closely associated with the individual who passed away on board on 2 May 2026. The two symptomatic individuals have not tested positive for hantavirus at this time,” the company added.

In partnership with the Dutch Institute for Public Health and Environment (RIVM), Oceanwide Expeditions has expanded medical care on board with two infectious disease physicians, arriving Wednesday by plane from the Netherlands.

“This ensures that optimal medical care can be provided if necessary, during the next stage of this evolving situation,” the company said.

Currently, the planned onward destination for the ship, MV Hondius, is the Canary Islands, according to Oceanwide Expeditions.

“Oceanwide Expeditions remains in close and continual discussion with relevant authorities regarding the exact point of arrival, quarantine and screening procedures for all guests, and a precise timeline,” the company said, adding it is “unable to confirm the details of onward travel for guests at this stage.”

“This is dependent on medical advice and the outcome of stringent screening procedures. Close cooperation continues with local and international authorities, including the WHO, the RIVM, relevant embassies, and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” they noted.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, said that the organization “continues to work with the ship’s operators to closely monitor the health of passengers and crew, working with countries to support appropriate medical follow-up and evacuation where needed.”

“Monitoring and follow-up for passengers on board and for those who have already disembarked has been initiated in collaboration with the ship’s operators and national health authorities,” Ghebreyesus wrote in a post on X.

Ghebreyesus also noted that the overall public health risk remains low at this time.

The Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) has confirmed that a passenger who travelled on the first leg of the voyage, from Ushuaia to St Helena, April 1 to 24, 2026, has tested positive for hantavirus and is currently being treated at the University Hospital Zurich.

“Oceanwide Expeditions is in contact with the relevant authorities regarding this development. All guests present on this voyage have been contacted by Oceanwide Expeditions,” Ocean Expeditions said in a statement.

This brings the total number of confirmed hantavirus cases associated with the voyage to three.

The Swiss government confirmed that one person with a hantavirus infection is currently being treated at the University Hospital Zurich (USZ).

“The patient is male and returned to Switzerland after travelling on the cruise ship on which there were a number of hantavirus cases,” the Swiss government said in a press release. “The USZ is prepared to deal with such cases, is able to care for the patient, and guarantee the safety of staff and all patients. There is currently no risk to the Swiss public.”

The Swiss government said that the man returned from a trip to South America with his wife at the end of April.

After the man noticed symptoms, he contacted his doctor and underwent further assessment at the University Hospital Zurich, the Swiss government said.

“There, he was immediately placed in isolation. A test that was carried out at the reference laboratory at the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) revealed a positive result for hantavirus. It concerns the Andes virus, a hantavirus that occurs in South America,” the press release notes.

“Unlike the European hantaviruses, which are transmitted through excretions of infected rodents, for the American hantavirus variant, person-to-person transmission has also been documented in rare cases,” the Swiss government added. “However, transmission only occurs through close contact. The FOPH therefore considers the occurrence of further cases in Switzerland unlikely. The risk to the public in Switzerland is low.”

The patient’s wife accompanied him on the trip but has not yet shown any symptoms and is self-isolating as a precaution.

“The cantonal authorities are currently investigating whether the patient came into contact with other people during the infectious period,” the press release said. “Appropriate safety measures are in place at the USZ for the patient’s treatment. The USZ is the reference hospital for such diseases.”

The Swiss government said that hantavirus fever is rare in Switzerland and, in recent years, there have been between 0 and six reported cases a year.

“Of these few cases, the vast majority are attributable to infections acquired abroad,” the Swiss government said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified the Andes strain of hantavirus, which can be transmitted from person to person, in passengers who were on the cruise ship, officials said Wednesday.

“The type of virus in this outbreak has been confirmed as Andes hantavirus by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, South Africa and the Geneva University Hospitals, Switzerland,” the WHO wrote in a post on X.

“The UN agency said that the victims may have been infected with the disease prior to boarding. It has reported eight cases of infection so far, including three confirmed as Andes hantavirus by laboratory testing,” the United Nations added in a news release.

The South African Department of Health said in a report, viewed by The Associated Press, that the information came from tests performed on the passengers after they were removed from the MV Hondius and flown to South Africa.

One of the passengers, a British man, is in intensive care in a Johannesburg hospital. Tests were performed on the other passenger posthumously in South Africa.

On Tuesday, the WHO said that the one individual in intensive care in South Africa was “improving.”

Hantavirus is mainly spread by contact with rodents or their urine, saliva or droppings, particularly when the material is disturbed and becomes airborne, posing a risk of inhalation, according to the government of Canada.

People are typically exposed to hantavirus around their homes, cabins or sheds, especially when cleaning out enclosed spaces with little ventilation or exploring areas where there are mouse droppings.

People can also get the virus from infected mice, rats and other rodents.

“For this reason, it is best to avoid close contact with rodents in Canada and abroad,” the Canadian government notes.

The Andes strain is found in South America, primarily in Argentina and Chile, according to the WHO. To date, the Andes strain is the only type of hantavirus in which human-to-human transmission has been confirmed, usually through close contact, such as by sharing a bed or sharing food, experts say.

Death rates vary based on which hantavirus causes the illness. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is fatal in about 35 per cent of people infected, while the death rate for hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome varies from one per cent to 15 per cent of patients, according to the CDC.

Since 1989, there have been 109 confirmed cases and 27 deaths in Canada due to a hantavirus infection, the government of Canada reports.

“It is important to emphasize that the epidemiological investigation of the current outbreak is ongoing, but the fact that some crew members (reportedly including the ship’s doctor) have become ill strongly suggests that this outbreak involves the Andes strain of hantavirus (ANDV), which is the strain capable of person-to-person spread,” Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, senior physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Mass General Brigham, told Global News.

“It would be very unusual for there to be a rodent infestation on board a modern cruise ship that could cause infection in such a large number of passengers and crew,” Kuritzkes added.

“Similarly unlikely that all of the people who have become ill were exposed to some rodent source on land. It is most likely that one or two people were unknowingly exposed to hantavirus on land from a rodent source and subsequently transmitted to fellow passengers/crew.”

Kuritzkes notes that the earliest symptoms of hantavirus infection are fairly non-distinct including fever and malaise, which are typical symptoms of viral infections in general.

“However, in this setting, a person on the ship developing those symptoms should be considered potentially ill with hantavirus. Subsequently, development of respiratory distress characterizes hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which progresses rapidly once it occurs,” Kuritzkes added.

The Spanish health ministry said in a statement Tuesday that the government has “accepted the request from the Government of the Netherlands to take in the doctor from the MV Hondius, who is in serious condition, and who will be transported to the Canary Islands in a hospital plane.”

In an update on Wednesday, the Spanish health ministry said that the ship’s doctor, “whose evacuation to the Canary Islands was initially planned, will also be transferred to the Netherlands following the improvement in his health condition.”

The doctor and three patients infected with hantavirus were transferred via medicalized aircraft to the Netherlands.

During a press conference on Tuesday, Mónica García, Spain’s Minister of Health, reported on the situation arising from the hantavirus outbreak detected on the cruise ship.

García noted that she has been “in continuous contact” with the president of the Canary Islands government, Fernando Clavijo, while the Secretary of State for Health, the Directorate General of Public Health, Foreign Health and the technical teams “have worked in coordination with their regional and international counterparts to share information, assess risks, and prepare the health response.”

At the press conference, the minister explained that during a meeting between the technical teams of the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization on Tuesday, the Spanish health ministry agreed to send a team of international epidemiologists to review the health situation of the ship in Cape Verde.

“Subsequently, the WHO stated that Cape Verde does not currently have the necessary capabilities to independently carry out all the epidemiological, environmental and public health assessments required to manage a health incident of this nature,” the media release noted.

“In light of this situation, the WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, formally requested the collaboration of the Spanish State to facilitate the arrival of the MV Hondius and to carry out the necessary health actions under international coordination,” the Spanish health ministry said.

The minister stressed that Spain’s actions respond “both to humanitarian principles and to international legal obligations derived from the WHO’s International Health Regulations, of which Spain is a State Party.”

García explained that active or symptomatic cases will not travel to the Canary Islands. They will be evacuated directly from Cape Verde via medical aircraft to high-isolation hospital units to receive specialized care.

Those continuing their journey to the Canary Islands are passengers without symptoms, whose arrival is expected within a period of between 72 hours and 96 hours, García said.

“The disembarkation will be carried out through controlled health circuits, with direct transfer from the port to the airport and subsequent return to their countries of origin, avoiding at all times transit through spaces open to the general population,” she noted.

This comes after the Spanish archipelago’s leader, Fernando Clavijo, said he was opposed to the move and requested an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

—With files from The Associated Press