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Hantavirus live updates: Risk to general public 'very, very low'

PHOTO: The Dutch flagged hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius is refueled by a tanker in the port of Granadilla de Abona on the island of Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands on May 11, 2026.
2:20
Jorge Guerrero/AFP via Getty Images
1 American positive for hantavirus, another symptomatic, HHS says
By Christopher Watson, Ivan Pereira, Jon Haworth, Mary Kekatos, Nadine El-Bawab, Leah Sarnoff, Kevin Shalvey
Last Updated: May 11, 2026, 8:13 AM

Passengers onboard the MV Hondius cruise ship started disembarking Sunday in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, to be transferred to charter flights back to their home countries.

The total number of confirmed and probable cases of hantavirus onboard the ship has risen to 10, including two people confirmed to have died from the virus and one person who remains suspected to have died from the virus.

On Monday, 16 American cruise ship passengers arrived at the University of Nebraska Medical Center; 15 are in the quarantine unit and one person is in the biocontainment unit, officials said. Two other American cruise ship passengers were flown to Atlanta “for further assessment and care," officials said.

Key Headlines

  • 15 in quarantine, 1 in biocontainment unit
  • Risk to general public 'very, very low'
  • Hantavirus on ship is Andes variant
  • Ship captain thanks guests, crew for their kindness, patience during 'challenging' weeks
  • French passenger tests positive, minister says
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 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 11, 2026 8:13 AM

French passenger tests positive, minister says

One of the five French passengers evacuated from the MV Hondius has tested positive for hantavirus, according to French Health Minister Stephanie Rist, who spoke to French public radio on Monday morning.

PHOTO: Ambulances transporting French national passengers of the MV Hondius, where an outbreak of hantavirus has been detected, drive in a tunnel enter Paris on May 10, 2026.
Xavier Galiana/AFP via Getty Images
Ambulances transporting French national passengers of the MV Hondius, where an outbreak of hantavirus has been detected, drive in a tunnel enter Paris on May 10, 2026, after a plane repatriating them landed Le Bourget airport, in the outskirts of Paris.
Xavier Galiana/AFP via Getty Images

The passenger showed symptoms on the plane to France, and their condition worsened overnight, Rist said. They are in a specialist infectious diseases hospital, she said.

Additionally, France has identified 22 "contact cases" -- people who may have come into contact with those infected with hantavirus, she said. These people were on two flights where someone with hantavirus was also on board and have been isolating, according to Rist.

-ABC News' Victoria Beaule


May 11, 2026 12:17 PM

Plane lands in Nebraska carrying Americans evacuated from cruise ship

A plane carrying American passengers who were evacuated on Sunday from a hantavirus-hit cruise ship arrived early on Monday in Nebraska.

PHOTO: A chartered aircraft carrying passengers evacuated from the cruise ship MV Hondius, which was affected by a hantavirus outbreak, arriving at Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. May 11, 2026.
Hayden Smith/Reuters
A chartered aircraft carrying passengers evacuated from the cruise ship MV Hondius, which was affected by a hantavirus outbreak, arriving at Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. May 11, 2026.
Hayden Smith/Reuters

Officials on Sunday said one of the passengers arriving at Omaha's Eppley Airfield via a Department of State airlift tested positive for the virus.

That passenger and another were on the plane were traveling in the aircraft's biocontainment units "out of an abundance of caution," the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement.


May 11, 2026 2:54 AM

American who tested positive will be transported to biocontainment unit

The American passenger who tested positive for hantavirus will be transported to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit, according to Nebraska Medicine, which hosts the facility.

The individual does not have any symptoms and was separated from other passengers during the flight through biocontainment measures. They will be receiving a follow-up test, Nebraska Medicine said.

The remaining passengers will go to the National Quarantine Unit for assessment and monitoring.



May 11, 2026 2:58 AM

1 American positive for hantavirus, another symptomatic, HHS says

The Department of Health and Human Services released a statement on Sunday saying one American has tested positive for hantavirus as the plane with 18 MV Hondius passengers is headed to the U.S.

Two of the passengers on the plane are traveling in the aircraft's biocontainment units "out of an abundance of caution," according to HHS.

The agency said that of the two, one passenger currently has mild symptoms and the other has tested PCR positive for the virus.

The plane is first going to the ASPR Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center (RESPTC) at the University of Nebraska Medical Center before taking the passenger with mild symptoms to a second RESPTC, according to HHS.

"Upon arrival at each facility, each individual will undergo clinical assessment and receive appropriate care and support based on their condition," HHS said.


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


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