MV Hondius Hantavirus Outbreak: Passengers Repatriated as New Cases Confirmed in US and France

The ship at the center of the Hantavirus outbreak began disembarking all passengers on Sunday and is now preparing to head to the Netherlands, where the remaining crew will depart.

Oceanwide Expeditions’ m/v Hondius arrived in Tenerife on Sunday. All guests and some crew members are disembarking via launch boats and zodiacs and anyone who disembarks is being transferred immediately to waiting aircraft.

The ship is expected to depart this evening for Rotterdam with approximately 30 crew members remaining onboard. Oceanwide stated it will not be involved with the screening or repatriation of any guests. The journey to Rotterdam is expected to take about five days.

As of Monday morning, three people have died from the outbreak: a Dutch couple and a German woman. There are at least eight more confirmed or probable cases, including two new cases confirmed as of Sunday.

These latest cases include a French woman, currently in serious condition at an infectious disease unit in Paris, and an American national who is being monitored at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The American passenger is currently reported to be asymptomatic.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said again this weekend that despite the headlines, the risk that this strain of Hantavirus poses to the general public remains low. Unlike COVID-19, spreading the infection requires “prolonged and intimate contact” (like sharing a cabin or being a family member).

The WHO also said that investigators believe the first case contracted the virus during a guest’s birdwatching trip in Argentina or Chile before boarding on April 1, and that there is “no evidence of rodents” currently on the ship.