Health authorities in Arizona and Georgia are monitoring three cruise passengers who recently returned to the United States after being aboard the MV Hondius, where five hantavirus cases have been confirmed, according to ABC News.
The Arizona Department of Health Services is overseeing one resident who was a passenger, while the Georgia Department of Public Health is monitoring two residents who disembarked and returned home. None of the monitored individuals has shown symptoms so far.
More than 100 passengers remain aboard the MV Hondius, which is en route from Cape Verde off the African coast to the Canary Islands, Spain.
The vessel’s journey to the islands is expected to take three to four days, according to operator Oceanwide Expeditions.
Confirmed Cases and Medical Evacuations
The total hantavirus cases linked to the MV Hondius have reached five, including two crew members. Three passengers have been medically evacuated from the ship. Two of these evacuated patients are in serious condition and are being treated in the Netherlands by specialist medical teams. The third evacuated individual is asymptomatic but is a close contact of a German national who died on May 2.
Swiss authorities also confirmed a hantavirus case in a passenger who sought treatment at a Zurich
hospital after responding to a health alert from the cruise operator.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa and Geneva University Hospitals identified the Andes hantavirus strain involved. This strain is known to allow some person-to-person transmission, prompting increased international monitoring.
Health Agency Responses and Monitoring
The World Health Organization (WHO) director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stated on X (formerly Twitter) that WHO is working with the ship’s operators and national health authorities to monitor passengers and crew health closely and coordinate further medical follow-up and evacuations as needed.
WHO maintains that the overall public health risk remains low despite the outbreak. Dr.
Freddy Banza of WHO indicated no symptomatic passengers remain on board and that the highest risk group currently includes crew members and medical staff who cared for infected individuals.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) echoed this assessment in its first public update on October 2, 2026. The CDC said “the risk to the American public is extremely low” and emphasized coordination by the Department of State, which is leading a whole-of-government response including passenger contact and diplomatic engagement.
Oceanwide Expeditions announced it is expanding onboard medical care with two infectious disease physicians from the Dutch Institute
for Public Health and Environment (RIVM) flown from the Netherlands to assist during the evolving situation.
Ship Docking and Repatriation Plans
The MV Hondius heading to the Canary Islands faces local opposition to docking. President Fernando Clavijo of the Canary Islands said the regional government is against permitting the ship to dock at Tenerife, citing insufficient information and public safety concerns. He also requested a meeting with the Spanish prime minister regarding the decision.
Spain’s Minister of Health, Mónica García, announced plans for a joint screening and evacuation process upon the ship’s arrival at Granadilla de Abona port in the Canary Islands. She stated that
unless prevented by medical reasons, all foreign passengers will be repatriated through the European civil protection mechanism.
Dutch airline KLM notified passengers who traveled on a flight out of Johannesburg on April 25 that they may have been exposed to hantavirus. The flight included a passenger who later died in Johannesburg and who had been denied boarding due to medical condition concerns at the time.
