A rare hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship has led to confirmed and suspected cases in at least six countries, prompting global contact tracing efforts. The Dutch-flagged vessel departed Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1, 2026, carrying 147 passengers and crew from 23 nationalities on a South Atlantic itinerary.

As of May 7, five cases have been laboratory-confirmed as hantavirus, including the Andes strain capable of limited human-to-human transmission, with eight suspected cases overall and three deaths. The victims included a 70-year-old Dutch man who died on April 11 aboard the ship, his 69-year-old wife who succumbed on April 26 in South Africa, and a German woman who died on May 2. Symptoms, which appeared between April 6 and 28, included fever, gastrointestinal issues, pneumonia, and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

The ship anchored off Cape Verde on May 3 but was denied docking before departing for Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands, with arrival expected on May 9 or 10. Three patients, a British national, a 65-year-old German, and a 41-year-old Dutch crew member, were medically evacuated to the Netherlands on May 6. A British passenger remains in intensive care in South Africa, where his condition has improved, and a Swiss man tested positive after returning home.

Contact tracing has identified over 60 people in South Africa and others elsewhere. In Singapore, two residents who shared a flight with a deceased passenger are isolating, one with mild symptoms pending tests. The United Kingdom is monitoring seven individuals, including two isolating at home, while the United States is observing three asymptomatic returnees in Arizona, Georgia, and California.

The World Health Organization, coordinating with Cabo Verde, the Netherlands, Spain, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, assesses the global risk as low. Hantavirus primarily spreads through contact with infected rodents or their waste, with the Andes strain noted for rare person-to-person spread in close contact. No specific treatment or vaccine exists, but supportive care aids survival.

Onboard measures include cabin confinement, physical distancing, hand hygiene, masks, and environmental cleaning. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control rates the risk to Europe's general population as very low, given the virus's poor transmissibility outside rodent reservoirs absent in Europe. WHO experts stated they do not anticipate a large epidemic.