Category: Hantavirus
Cruise Ship Undergoes Additional Cleaning Following Deadly Hantavirus Outbreak
The MV Hondius cruise ship, linked to a hantavirus outbreak that has resulted in 12 confirmed cases and three deaths, is undergoing additional cleaning and disinfection measures in Rotterdam before it can return to service. Dutch health authorities requested the extra sanitation work following inspections of the vessel, though officials have not specified the reason […]
May 27, 2026
Cruise Ship Hantavirus Outbreak Grows to 13 Confirmed Cases
The World Health Organization reports that the hantavirus outbreak linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship has grown to 13 confirmed cases following identification of a new case in Spain among quarantined passengers. Three deaths have been associated with the outbreak, though no additional fatalities have been reported since early May. Health officials say the […]
May 27, 2026
New Hantavirus Case Confirmed Among Cruise Ship Crew Member in Netherlands
Health officials have confirmed a new hantavirus infection in a crew member linked to the outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship. The individual was repatriated to the Netherlands after disembarking in Tenerife and is currently hospitalized in isolation following laboratory confirmation of infection. According to the World Health Organization, the outbreak has now resulted […]
May 27, 2026
Additional States Monitoring Travelers for Possible Hantavirus Exposure
Several U.S. states have expanded monitoring efforts for potential hantavirus exposure, with the number of individuals under observation increasing from 41 to 59 nationwide. Health officials in California, Maryland, North Dakota, Virginia, Washington, and Oregon are monitoring additional people, many of whom reportedly shared flights with passengers potentially exposed to Andes hantavirus aboard the MV […]
May 27, 2026
Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship docks in the Netherlands for disinfection
PBS News The cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak has docked at the Dutch port of Rotterdam for disinfection, wrapping up a troubled journey that put international health authorities on alert. The MV Hondius was still carrying 25 crew members and two medical personnel as it reached Europe’s largest port on Monday morning, […]
May 20, 2026
Inside the race to develop a hantavirus PCR test
Scientific American Researchers at the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory worked round the clock to develop a test for the Andes virus at the center of the deadly cruise ship outbreak. The ongoing hantavirus outbreak carries disturbing echoes of the early days of COVID: people falling ill on a cruise ship from a relatively unknown pathogen, […]
May 20, 2026
Argentines hunting for source of hantavirus outbreak trap rats in southernmost city
Associated Press Argentine investigators searching for the source of a deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise last month were trapping rodents in the forests surrounding the southernmost city of Ushuaia on Tuesday, with the aim of detecting the possible presence of the rat-borne virus in an area previously thought unaffected. The scientists, wearing bright blue gloves and surgical masks, […]
May 20, 2026
How Wet Weather in Argentina Helped Fuel the Cruise Ship Hantavirus Outbreak
Wired Climate change is contributing to the conditions driving a rodent boom—dubbed a ratada—in Argentina. The hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship has created a global public health crisis. But the driver of it is a rodent that weighs about an ounce, and climate shifts this year that have helped increase the odds of transmission. Across the […]
May 20, 2026
Andes Hantavirus Outbreak on a Cruise Ship, 2026
NEJM On April 27, 2026, a man (later classified as Patient 3 in the outbreak) was medically evacuated to Ascension Island from the Dutch-flagged expedition cruise ship MV Hondius; he had severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) and reported shortness of breath and fever that had begun on April 21. He had signs of pneumonia, although findings […]
May 20, 2026
CDC Chief Orders 2 Americans to Quarantine Over Hantavirus Concern
MedPageToday Agency cites outbreak-related cases in Europe after passengers departed cruise ship. The CDC’s temporary leader ordered two Americans to quarantine at a Nebraska hospital following their high-risk hantavirus exposures on an outbreak-hit cruise ship. Eighteen recently repatriated U.S. passengers from the MV Hondius have been requested to stay at the quarantine facility, the agency said in […]
May 20, 2026