US, French Nationals Test Positive For Hantavirus After Cruise Ship Outbreak

Last Updated:May 11, 2026, 17:27 IST

French Health Minister Stephanie Rist has said that a woman evacuated from the ship has tested positive for the virus and her condition is worsening.

Hantavirus outbreak: An American and a French national who have returned to their home countries, having left a cruise ship hit by a deadly outbreak of hantavirus, have tested positive for the virus, authorities have said.

Passengers from the ship began flying home aboard military and government planes Sunday after the MV Hondius anchored in the Canary Islands. Personnel in full-body protective gear and breathing masks escorted the travelers from ship to shore in Tenerife, an effort that was continuing Monday.

The US health department has said that a second US national on the repatriation flight had also shown mild symptoms, adding that both passengers had travelled back in “biocontainment units out of an abundance of caution".

The Americans would first be taken to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, which has a federally funded quarantine facility, to assess whether they have been in close contact with any symptomatic people and their risk levels for spreading the virus.

“One passenger will be transported to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit upon arrival, while other passengers will go to the National Quarantine Unit for assessment and monitoring. The passenger who is going to the Biocontainment Unit tested positive for the virus but does not have symptoms," news agency AP quoted Kayla Thomas, a spokesperson for the Nebraska Medicine network that will help care for the passengers, as saying.

French Health Minister Stephanie Rist has said that a woman evacuated from the ship has tested positive for the virus and her condition is worsening.

It is the first-ever case of a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship, according to Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness. The cruise ship is currently anchored near Tenerife, where Spanish authorities are carrying out evacuation and repatriation operations for the remaining passengers.

So far three cruise ship passengers have died, but health authorities continue to stress that the risk to the broader public is low.

What Is Hantavirus?

Hantaviruses are a family of rodent-borne viruses. Most strains spread through contact with infected rodents’ urine, droppings, or saliva. The Andes virus variant involved in this outbreak is particularly notable because it is one of the few hantaviruses known to spread from person to person through close and prolonged contact.

The outbreak was first reported on May 3 after several passengers developed severe respiratory illnesses. The ship had started its voyage from Argentina in March and travelled through Antarctica and other regions before reaching waters near Cape Verde.

Hantavirus infections can be serious, especially when they progress to lung complications. However, the key concern here is not just severity, but transmission. The WHO said that while human-to-human spread is being investigated, such transmission is extremely rare and typically limited to very close contact, such as between family members or caregivers. This makes the overall risk moderate within close settings, but low at a broader level.

News world US, French Nationals Test Positive For Hantavirus After Cruise Ship Outbreak

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