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Hantavirus updates: Canadian cruise ship passenger tests positive for hantavirus 

PHOTO: The cruise ship MV Hondius leaves Praia, Cape Verde, May 6, 2026.
1:35
Stringer/Reuters
Officials tracking at least 41 Americans after deadly hantavirus outbreak
By Christopher Watson, Ivan Pereira, Jon Haworth, Mary Kekatos, Nadine El-Bawab, Leah Sarnoff, Kevin Shalvey
Last Updated: May 7, 2026, 8:13 PM

The total number of confirmed and probable cases of hantavirus of those who were onboard the MV Hondius cruise ship stands at 11, including two people confirmed to have died from the virus and one person who remains suspected to have died from the virus.

No cases of Andes hantavirus have been confirmed in the U.S. The eighteen American ship passengers are being monitored at the quarantine unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Key Headlines

  • Canadian cruise ship passenger tests positive for hantavirus
  • Health officials in Washington state tracking hantavirus case unrelated to cruise ship
  • 2 cruise ship passengers originally in Atlanta now at Nebraska quarantine facility
  • Suspected hantavirus case at upstate New York high school, not linked to cruise ship
  • US has no cases of Andes hantavirus
Here's how the news is developing.

Pinned
May 08, 2026 5:17 PM

What is hantavirus and how does it spread?

Here's what you need to know about hantavirus including what it is, how it spreads, how it's treated and if there are any prevention methods:

What is hantavirus?

Hantaviruses are a family of viruses that can cause serious illnesses and death, according to the CDC.

PHOTO: Stock photo of a colorized electron micrograph of the Hantavirus.
Alfred Pasieka/Science Photo Lib/STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images
Stock photo of a colorized electron micrograph of the Hantavirus.
Alfred Pasieka/Science Photo Lib/STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images

How does hantavirus spread?

Hantaviruses may also spread from person to person, but that also is rare and only suspected for one subtype from South America, according to the WHO.

Read more about hantavirus here.


Pinned
May 11, 2026 5:07 PM

2 passengers at Emory in Atlanta, 1 symptomatic and 1 asymptomatic

Emory University Hospital said that, of the two cruise ship passengers now at its Serious Communicable Diseases Unit, one is symptomatic and is “receiving care in Emory’s biocontainment unit.”

The other passenger is asymptomatic and is “undergoing evaluation and monitoring.”

These two passengers are a couple, officials said earlier on Monday.


May 07, 2026 8:13 PM

Virginia officials monitoring ship passenger who returned to US

Virginia's Department of Health said Thursday that a traveler from their state who was on the MV Hondius returned home in "good health" and is being monitored by public health authorities.

PHOTO: A drone view of the cruise ship MV Hondius, carrying passengers suspected of having cases of hantavirus on board, as it prepares to leave Praia, Cape Verde, May 6, 2026.
Danilson Sequeira/Reuters
A drone view of the cruise ship MV Hondius, carrying passengers suspected of having cases of hantavirus on board, as it prepares to leave Praia, Cape Verde, May 6, 2026.
Danilson Sequeira/Reuters

"Our understanding is that fewer than 30 U.S. Citizens were on board the ship. A small number (<5) of other potentially exposed Virginians might be identified in the days ahead," the department said.

"The Virginia Department of Health is monitoring this situation closely and has been in active communication with our federal partners at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)," the statement said, adding "generally speaking, we believe the risk to the general public to be low.

Virginia's statement brings the total number of U.S. residents currently under monitoring for hantavirus symptoms to at least seven people across five states, including Arizona, California, Georgia, Texas and Virginia. 

-ABC News' Chris Barry and Youri Benadjaoud


May 07, 2026 8:04 PM

Spain prepares for 'isolated' evacuations as cruise ship approaches Canary Islands

Virigina Barcones, Spain's head of Emergencies and Civil Protection, provided more details Thursday about its plans for the MV Hondius when it arrives at the Canary Islands Sunday.

"They will arrive at a completely isolated, cordoned-off area. They will board vehicles that are isolated and under guard, and will proceed to a section of the airport that will be completely cordoned off. They will board the aircraft and depart. I am saying this so that the people of the Canary Islands, the men and women living there, can rest assured that there will be absolutely no possibility of contact at any time," she said in a statement.

PHOTO: The port of Granadilla de Abona on the island of Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands is pictured, May 7, 2026.
Jorge Guerrero/AFP via Getty Images
The port of Granadilla de Abona on the island of Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands is pictured, May 7, 2026.
Jorge Guerrero/AFP via Getty Images

Barcones added that no one will be allowed to leave the boat unless they are going directly to the airport to return to their home countries.

"The United States has showed its willingness to send a plane to collect its citizens directly. Negotiations with the United Kingdom are also at an advanced stage. During meetings held throughout the day, the U.K. has also expressed its willingness to send a dedicated flight to repatriate its nationals," she said.

-ABC News' William Gretsky


May 07, 2026 6:28 PM

2 infected patients in isolation in Dutch hospitals

Two patients infected with the hantavirus are currently hospitalized in hospitals in the Netherlands in a special units with isolation protocols, Dutch health officials said Thursday.

One patient is at Radboud University Medical Center, in the city of Nijmegen, while the other is at Leiden University Medical Center in Leiden, officials said.

PHOTO: A photograph taken on May 7, 2026 shows the Radboudumc hospital in the Nijmegen where sick passenger believed to be infected with hantavirus from the cruise ship MV Hondius have been admitted.
Marcel Krijgsman/ANP/AFP via Getty Images
A photograph taken on May 7, 2026 shows the Radboudumc hospital in the Nijmegen where sick passenger believed to be infected with hantavirus from the cruise ship MV Hondius have been admitted.
Marcel Krijgsman/ANP/AFP via Getty Images

Health officials said the patients are not putting any other visitor or patient at risk.

Three additional people in the Netherlands have been tested for the virus, including a 69-year-old flight attendant. All three were in direct contact with the victim who died in South Africa, health officials said.

The flight attendant is currently admitted to a hospital in Amsterdam awaiting her test results, according to officials.

-ABC News' Aicha Elhammar



May 07, 2026 5:46 PM

A timeline of the MV Hondius' voyage

The MV Hondius left on its voyage April 1 from Ushuaia, Argentina.

On April 6, a 70-year-old Dutch passenger fell ill with fever, headache and diarrhea, according to the WHO. That passenger died on April 11.

PHOTO: Route of the MV Hondius
Map Tiles byGoogle Earth / vesselfinder.com
Route of the MV Hondius
Map Tiles byGoogle Earth / vesselfinder.com

The ship was between the British island territories of South Georgia and St. Helena in the middle of the South Atlantic, according to data from the ship tracking website MarineTraffic.

The ship sailed on for nearly two weeks, stopping near the island of Tristan da Cunha before reaching St. Helena, where the Dutch man's body was removed on April 24.

A total 29 passengers from 12 countries disembarked while the ship was in Saint Helena.

The Dutch victim's 69-year-old widow also disembarked and flew to South Africa, where she collapsed at an airport there. Two days later, she died from the disease, according to officials.

Another passenger aboard the ship, a German national, died on May 2nd, a day before the ship arrived in Cape Verde.

The next day, the WHO announced it was investigating a suspected hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius.

The ship is currently en route to the Canary Islands.


May 11, 2026 5:07 PM

2 passengers at Emory in Atlanta, 1 symptomatic and 1 asymptomatic

Emory University Hospital said that, of the two cruise ship passengers now at its Serious Communicable Diseases Unit, one is symptomatic and is “receiving care in Emory’s biocontainment unit.”

The other passenger is asymptomatic and is “undergoing evaluation and monitoring.”

These two passengers are a couple, officials said earlier on Monday.


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