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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 9, 2026, 1:13 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 08, 2026 8:22 PM

What to know about Nebraska quarantine unit set to receive Americans from hantavirus-stricken ship

Several American passengers from the cruise ship associated with a suspected hantavirus cluster are set to arrive at a quarantine unit in Nebraska over the next few days. Here's what to know about the facility.

The National Quarantine Unit, managed by Nebraska Medicine and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), is the only federally funded quarantine unit in the U.S.

Its 20 single-occupancy rooms with en-suite bathrooms contain individual negative air pressure systems to safely house individuals exposed to highly hazardous communicable diseases, according to Nebraska Medicine and UNMC.

The rooms also contain exercise equipment and WiFi connectivity for patients requiring longer stays.

Nebraska Medicine and UNMC also manage the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit (NBU), which provides medical care to patients with highly hazardous communicable diseases.

“Unit personnel consists of a voluntary staff of select physicians, nursing, nursing assistants and respiratory therapists specially trained in high-level isolation and bio preparedness,” Nebraska Medicine and UNMC said on its website.

The NBU was activated in 2014 to care for U.S. citizens affected by the Ebola outbreak and medically evacuated from Africa and during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to care for U.S. citizens from Wuhan, China, and the Diamond Princess Cruise ship.


May 09, 2026 1:13 PM

Vessel expected to arrive early Sunday local time

The vessel is expected to arrive in Tenerife and be anchored between 4:00 and 6:00 a.m. local time Sunday, according to the health ministry in Madrid.

PHOTO: Members of the Netherlands' consulate visit the port of Granadilla de Abona, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, where the cruise ship MV Hondius hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak is expected to arrive, May 9, 2026.
Borja Suarez/Reuters
Members of the Netherlands' consulate visit the port of Granadilla de Abona, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, where the cruise ship MV Hondius hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak is expected to arrive, May 9, 2026.
Borja Suarez/Reuters

Fourteen Spanish passengers will be the first to be transferred to the Port of Granadilla.

-ABC News' Aicha Elhammar


May 09, 2026 8:57 AM

All passengers on M/V Hondius will began to evacuate within the next 24 hours

An official from the Canarias Region government said that all passengers on the MV Hondius will began to evacuate within the next 24 hours.

PHOTO: Members of the Spanish Civil Guard wait for the arrival of the Cruise MV Hondius at port of Granadilla de Abona on the island of Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands on May 9, 2026.
Jorge Guerrero/AFP via Getty Images
Members of the Spanish Civil Guard wait for the arrival of the Cruise MV Hondius at port of Granadilla de Abona on the island of Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands on May 9, 2026. A cruise ship hit with a deadly hantavirus outbreak is expected to reach waters off Tenerife at dawn, with WHO chief also due on the archipelago to help coordinate the ship's evacuation.
Jorge Guerrero/AFP via Getty Images

The officials said that the government's plan is to not allow any of the passengers to put members of the population into any type of risk.

If passenger is not ready to be transferred directly to airplane of their destination, then they will not be able to leave the vessel, the officials said.

Leaving by nationality, passengers will be transferred to the port wearing full protective equipment to avoid any contact with Canarias territory and they will be escorted by a few buses via TF1 route to the airport, which will take approximately 15 minutes to reach the airport.

-ABC News' Aicha El Hammar Castano


May 09, 2026 8:48 AM

CDC alerts US doctors and health departments to be aware of potential for imported hantavirus cases

The CDC is alerting doctors and health departments around the country to be aware of the potential for imported hantavirus cases from the cruise ship outbreak.

The agency notes that the risk of broad spread to the United States is considered extremely unlikely at this time.

PHOTO: View of a biohazard suit for staff of High-Level Isolation Unit of La Candelaria University Hospital in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in Tenerife, Canary Islands, southwestern Spain, May 8, 2026.
Ramon De La Rocha/EPA/Shutterstock
View of a biohazard suit for staff of High-Level Isolation Unit of La Candelaria University Hospital in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in Tenerife, Canary Islands, southwestern Spain, May 8, 2026.
Ramon De La Rocha/EPA/Shutterstock

There have been no confirmed hantavirus cases associated with the cruise ship in the U.S. and at least nine residents are being monitored across six states, but none have shown any signs of illness at this time.

The CDC’s advisory to doctors, via the Health Alert Network (HAN) system, reminds them that in the event of a potential hantavirus case, patients should be placed in an isolated room and health care providers should use a gown, gloves, eye protection and an N95 mask or higher level respirator.

Doctors should also consider hantavirus infections as a potential diagnosis if a patient presents with hantavirus symptoms as well as known contact with an infected individual, officials said.

-ABC News' Youri Benadjaoud



May 09, 2026 12:33 AM

California says 1 resident under monitoring after returning from cruise ship

The California Health Department says they are monitoring one former passenger of the cruise ship M/V Hondius for potential hantavirus infection.

"Local health officials are in contact with the one returned passenger," the department said in a news release. "At this time, public health protocol includes daily temperature checks and assessment for any symptoms consistent with hantavirus, and direction to modify activities."

The department said it was notified by federal officials that a second California resident is still on board the cruise ship.

There are at least nine U.S. residents under monitoring across six states

No U.S. residents under monitoring have shown any signs of illness at this time.


May 08, 2026 8:22 PM

What to know about Nebraska quarantine unit set to receive Americans from hantavirus-stricken ship

Several American passengers from the cruise ship associated with a suspected hantavirus cluster are set to arrive at a quarantine unit in Nebraska over the next few days. Here's what to know about the facility.

The National Quarantine Unit, managed by Nebraska Medicine and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), is the only federally funded quarantine unit in the U.S.

Its 20 single-occupancy rooms with en-suite bathrooms contain individual negative air pressure systems to safely house individuals exposed to highly hazardous communicable diseases, according to Nebraska Medicine and UNMC.

The rooms also contain exercise equipment and WiFi connectivity for patients requiring longer stays.

Nebraska Medicine and UNMC also manage the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit (NBU), which provides medical care to patients with highly hazardous communicable diseases.

“Unit personnel consists of a voluntary staff of select physicians, nursing, nursing assistants and respiratory therapists specially trained in high-level isolation and bio preparedness,” Nebraska Medicine and UNMC said on its website.

The NBU was activated in 2014 to care for U.S. citizens affected by the Ebola outbreak and medically evacuated from Africa and during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to care for U.S. citizens from Wuhan, China, and the Diamond Princess Cruise ship.


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