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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 12, 2026, 7:08 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 08, 2026 8:57 PM

Situation on board ship is 'calm': Cruise company

Oceanwide Expeditions provided an update about the 87 guests and 60 crew member aboard the M/V Hondius Friday and said the situation on board "remains calm," as it heads to the Canary Islands.

PHOTO: Crew members of the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, wait their turns for a first interview with epidemiologists, during the voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026.
AP
Crew members of the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, wait their turns for a first interview with epidemiologists, during the voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026.
AP

The boat is scheduled to arrive early Sunday, but that timetable is subject to change, according to Oceanwide.

PHOTO: A passenger on the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, reads the news on his mobile phone during the voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026.
AP
A passenger on the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, reads the news on his mobile phone during the voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026.
AP


"Preparations regarding our point of arrival, quarantine and screening procedures for all guests, and the onward travel plans for all guests and affected crew are being led by organizations from a number of countries, including the WHO, RIVM, and Dutch authorities, in close cooperation with Spanish government authorities," Oceanwide said in a statement.

PHOTO: Passengers on the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, scan the horizon with binoculars during their voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026.
AP
Passengers on the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, scan the horizon with binoculars during their voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026.
AP

The cruise company provided a breakdown of the ship's passengers and crew and revealed there are 17 Americans aboard the ship.

-ABC News' Claire Bower


May 12, 2026 7:08 PM

2 people being monitored in Seattle area

Two residents of King County, Washington, are being monitored at home after potentially being exposed to hantavirus, the Seattle and King County Public Health Department said.

The two residents sat on a plane near an ill passenger from the cruise ship; that passenger was removed from the plane and later tested positive, officials said.

The two residents don’t have symptoms and are being monitored, officials said.

"Currently, no one in King County has symptoms of hantavirus and there are no cases of the virus in King County," the health department said. "The risk to the public remains low."

A resident of King County is also among the cruise ship passengers now being monitored at the quarantine center in Nebraska, the officials added.


May 12, 2026 6:45 PM

25 crew, 2 medical staff remain on ship; no one has symptoms

Twenty-five crew members and two medical staffers remain on the MV Hondius cruise ship, which is en route to the Netherlands, Oceanwide Expedition said.

PHOTO: SPAIN-HEALTH-HANTAVIRUS-ILLNESS-TOURISM
Jorge Guerrero/AFP via Getty Images
The hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius leaves the port of Granadilla de Abona on the island of Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands, May 11, 2026.
Jorge Guerrero/AFP via Getty Images


No one on board has hantavirus symptoms but the “medical staff will continue to monitor throughout the remainder of the voyage,” Oceanwide Expedition said.

The ship is expected to arrive on Sunday or Monday. The crew members will follow quarantine procedures when they disembark, Oceanwide Expedition said.


May 12, 2026 6:42 PM

Positive patient in France presenting 'severe form,' in 'serious condition'

The French cruise ship passenger who tested positive for hantavirus “is presenting a severe form and is currently in intensive care in a serious condition,” French Health Minister Stephanie Rist said in French at a news conference on Tuesday.

She "has the most severe form of cardiopulmonary presentation, and she is receiving what is called, or rather what is the final stage of supportive care: extracorporeal circulation for artificial oxygenation," Risk said. "She has a lung-machine, a blood diversion, which we hope will allow her to get through this difficult period while her lung, which is being attacked by this virus and the damage to the vascular wall, recovers."

The other four French nationals who were taken off the ship were hospitalized for monitoring and they tested negative and "are doing well," she said.

Rist stressed that only people who were on the ship have tested positive.

PHOTO: Port vessels accompany the MV Hondius as it departs the Granadilla Port after all passengers were evacuated on May 11, 2026 in Tenerife, part of the Canary Islands, Spain.
Chris Mcgrath/Getty Images
Port vessels accompany the MV Hondius as it departs the Granadilla Port after all passengers were evacuated on May 11, 2026 in Tenerife, part of the Canary Islands, Spain.
Chris Mcgrath/Getty Images


Through contact tracing, Rist said “eight French nationals were identified on the flight between Saint Helena and Johannesburg. A second flight between Johannesburg and Amsterdam was carrying French nationals with a lower level of risk, in so far as a patient was present but was rapidly disembarked, which limited the exposure of travelers.”

“In total, 22 contact cases have been identified in France,” she said. “They have all been contacted, tested, hospitalized or are in the process of being hospitalized and are subject to rigorous health monitoring.”

-ABC News’ Othon Leyva



May 12, 2026 5:34 PM

Symptomatic cruise ship passenger in Atlanta tests negative

The cruise ship passenger at an Atlanta hospital who reported mild symptoms has tested negative for hantavirus, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. This passenger’s partner is also being monitored at the Emory University facility, officials said.

PHOTO: The exterior of Emory University Hospital, where two passengers from the cruise ship that had an hantavirus outbreak, are being monitored and treated, in Atlanta, Georgia, May 11, 2026.
Alyssa Pointer/Reuters
The exterior of Emory University Hospital, where two passengers from the cruise ship that had an hantavirus outbreak, are being monitored and treated, in Atlanta, Georgia, May 11, 2026.
Alyssa Pointer/Reuters


Meanwhile, the 16 passengers who are being monitored in Nebraska do not have symptoms, including the person in the biocontainment unit who previously tested positive, HHS said.

-ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud


May 08, 2026 8:57 PM

Situation on board ship is 'calm': Cruise company

Oceanwide Expeditions provided an update about the 87 guests and 60 crew member aboard the M/V Hondius Friday and said the situation on board "remains calm," as it heads to the Canary Islands.

PHOTO: Crew members of the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, wait their turns for a first interview with epidemiologists, during the voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026.
AP
Crew members of the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, wait their turns for a first interview with epidemiologists, during the voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026.
AP

The boat is scheduled to arrive early Sunday, but that timetable is subject to change, according to Oceanwide.

PHOTO: A passenger on the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, reads the news on his mobile phone during the voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026.
AP
A passenger on the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, reads the news on his mobile phone during the voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026.
AP


"Preparations regarding our point of arrival, quarantine and screening procedures for all guests, and the onward travel plans for all guests and affected crew are being led by organizations from a number of countries, including the WHO, RIVM, and Dutch authorities, in close cooperation with Spanish government authorities," Oceanwide said in a statement.

PHOTO: Passengers on the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, scan the horizon with binoculars during their voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026.
AP
Passengers on the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, scan the horizon with binoculars during their voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026.
AP

The cruise company provided a breakdown of the ship's passengers and crew and revealed there are 17 Americans aboard the ship.

-ABC News' Claire Bower


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