Andes Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise Ship Leaves Three Dead

A rare outbreak of Andes hantavirus aboard a cruise ship in the South Atlantic has been contained following an international public health response, with monitoring of exposed passengers continuing into June. The outbreak, linked to the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius, resulted in three deaths and prompted a coordinated effort by global health agencies.

The ship departed southern Argentina on April 1, 2026, for a voyage through remote South Atlantic islands. On May 2, the World Health Organization was notified of a cluster of severe acute respiratory illness on board. Laboratory testing confirmed the cause as the Andes virus, a strain of hantavirus notable for being the only one with documented, though rare, human-to-human transmission capability.

In response, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent a team to meet the ship when it docked in Spain's Canary Islands on May 7. Eighteen U.S. passengers assessed as having exposure risk were flown via a medical repatriation flight to Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, Nebraska. They were transferred to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, a designated facility for special pathogens. Sixteen were placed in a quarantine...