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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 10, 2026, 8:15 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 13, 2026 5:34 PM

American in quarantine gives video update

Jake Rosmarin, one of the American cruise patients currently quarantining in Nebraska, provided an update on his Instagram page Wednesday.

PHOTO: In this screen grab from a video posted to his Instagram account, Jake Rosmarin is shown on day 3 during his stay at the National Quarantine Unit.
Jake Rosmarin/Instagram
In this screen grab from a video posted to his Instagram account, Jake Rosmarin is shown on day 3 during his stay at the National Quarantine Unit.
Jake Rosmarin/Instagram

On his third day of quarantine at the National Quarantine Unit, Rosmarin showed off his thermometer used to take his temperature, his breakfast and his daily routine.

PHOTO: In this screen grab from a video posted to his Instagram account, Jake Rosmarin is shown on day 3 during his stay at the National Quarantine Unit.
Jack Rosmarin/Instagram
In this screen grab from a video posted to his Instagram account, Jake Rosmarin is shown on day 3 during his stay at the National Quarantine Unit.
Jack Rosmarin/Instagram


"One thing I really want to emphasize is how kind everyone here has been. The staff truly want to make sure we are as comfortable and cared for as possible during all of this. They even asked me what Starbucks I’d want and said they were hopefully going to get one delivered to me again today," he wrote in the post.

-ABC News' Matt Foster


May 10, 2026 8:15 PM

American passengers arrive at Tenerife airport

The American passengers who disembarked from the MV Hondius have arrived at Tenerife airport in the Canary Islands.

A total 18 people will be on the American repatriation flight, including the 17 Americans and one British national who is a resident of the U.S., the Spanish minister of health told ABC News.

Passengers of the cruise ship MV Hondius, which was affected by a hantavirus outbreak, board a plane bound for the United States at Tenerife Sud airport, Canary Islands, Spain, May 10, 2026
Borja Suarez/Reuters
Passengers of the cruise ship MV Hondius, which was affected by a hantavirus outbreak, board a plane bound for the United States at Tenerife Sud airport, Canary Islands, Spain, May 10, 2026. REUTERS/Borja Suarez
Borja Suarez/Reuters

-ABC News' Maggie Rulli


May 10, 2026 7:32 PM

American passengers disembarking from MV Hondius

The 17 Americans aboard the MV Hondius have begun disembarking from the ship.

As of Saturday, none of the American passengers had tested positive for the hantavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

PHOTO: The cruise ship MV Hondius leaves Praia, Cape Verde, May 6, 2026.
Stringer/Reuters
The cruise ship MV Hondius leaves Praia, Cape Verde, May 6, 2026.
Stringer/Reuters

The aircraft that will return the Americans to the U.S. is expected to take off from Tenerife at 9:30 p.m. local time/4:30 p.m. Eastern time but could possibly depart earlier if circumstances allow, a source with the Spanish president's office previously told ABC News. It is not yet clear if or when that aircraft has landed in Tenerife.

The passengers will be flown to the National Quarantine Unit in Omaha, Nebraska, managed by Nebraska Medicine and the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the only federally funded quarantine unit in the U.S.

During a press briefing Friday, officials with the National Quarantine Unit said there is not yet a defined period for how long the passengers would remain at the unit.

-ABC News' Dragana Jovanovic, Aicha El Hammar and Maggie Rulli


May 10, 2026 6:41 PM

French MV Hondius passenger now symptomatic, French PM says

A person who was among five French nationals aboard the MV Hondius has shown signs of hantavirus infection, according to the French prime minister.

"Five of our compatriots present on the MV Hondius, a hotbed of Hantavirus infection, have been repatriated to national territory. One of them exhibited symptoms on the repatriation flight," Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu posted Sunday on X.

"As a result, these five passengers were immediately placed in strict isolation until further notice," Lecornu said, adding that the passengers "are receiving medical care and will undergo testing and a full health assessment."

"Starting this evening, I will issue a decree to implement appropriate isolation measures for close contacts and to protect the general population," Lecornu added.

If confirmed, the French national would bring to nine the total number of confirmed and probable cases of hantavirus onboard the ship, including two people confirmed to have died from the virus and one person who remains suspected to have died from the virus.



May 10, 2026 5:44 PM

Pope Leo thanks Canary Islands residents for 'hospitality' shown to MV Hondius passengers

During his public noontime prayer Sunday in St. Peter's Square, Pope Leo thanked residents of the Canary Islands for their "hospitality" shown to the MV Hondius and its passengers.

"I would like to thank the people of the Canary Islands who, with the hospitality characteristic of them, welcomed the cruise ship Hondius and the passengers infected with the hantavirus," the pontiff said.

PHOTO: Pope Leo XIV speaks during Regina Caeli prayer in The Vatican, May 10, 2026.
Vatican Media/AFP via Getty Images
Pope Leo XIV speaks during Regina Caeli prayer in The Vatican, May 10, 2026.
Vatican Media/AFP via Getty Images

"I look forward to seeing all of you next month during my visit to the islands," the pope added, referring to the visit that had already been planned as part of a broader trip to Spain in June.

The passengers aboard the MV Hondius, including 17 Americans, disembarked from the ship Sunday in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, to begin their journeys back to their home countries.

-ABC News' Phoebe Natanson


May 13, 2026 5:34 PM

American in quarantine gives video update

Jake Rosmarin, one of the American cruise patients currently quarantining in Nebraska, provided an update on his Instagram page Wednesday.

PHOTO: In this screen grab from a video posted to his Instagram account, Jake Rosmarin is shown on day 3 during his stay at the National Quarantine Unit.
Jake Rosmarin/Instagram
In this screen grab from a video posted to his Instagram account, Jake Rosmarin is shown on day 3 during his stay at the National Quarantine Unit.
Jake Rosmarin/Instagram

On his third day of quarantine at the National Quarantine Unit, Rosmarin showed off his thermometer used to take his temperature, his breakfast and his daily routine.

PHOTO: In this screen grab from a video posted to his Instagram account, Jake Rosmarin is shown on day 3 during his stay at the National Quarantine Unit.
Jack Rosmarin/Instagram
In this screen grab from a video posted to his Instagram account, Jake Rosmarin is shown on day 3 during his stay at the National Quarantine Unit.
Jack Rosmarin/Instagram


"One thing I really want to emphasize is how kind everyone here has been. The staff truly want to make sure we are as comfortable and cared for as possible during all of this. They even asked me what Starbucks I’d want and said they were hopefully going to get one delivered to me again today," he wrote in the post.

-ABC News' Matt Foster


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