How a deadly hantavirus outbreak unfolded on a cruise ship for weeks
before it was identified
[May 07, 2026]
By GERALD IMRAY
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — A deadly outbreak of the rare hantavirus
unfolded over the course of weeks on a cruise ship that sailed from
Argentina toward Antarctica and then across the Atlantic Ocean, stopping
at or near remote islands on the way as passengers and crew members fell
sick, according to information from the cruise operator, the World
Health Organization and ship tracking data.
It shows nearly a month passed between when an elderly Dutch man fell
sick and died in the South Atlantic and laboratory tests in South Africa
— more than 3,500 kilometers (2,174 miles) away — first confirmed
hantavirus infections.
Three passengers have died, one is in intensive care in a South African
hospital, and three others were evacuated from the ship Wednesday.
Another man who left the ship earlier in the voyage tested positive in
Switzerland.
More than 140 passengers and crew members were still on the MV Hondius
ship as it departed the West African island nation of Cape Verde for
Spain’s Canary Islands.
Tests on patients in South Africa and Switzerland showed it was a
hantavirus found in South America, called the Andes virus, officials
said.
Hantavirus usually spreads by inhaling contaminated rodent droppings and
can spread person-to-person, though that is rare, according to the WHO,
whose top epidemic expert said the risk to the public is low.
As the number of confirmed infections increased to five, health
authorities in three continents were investigating the source and
tracing dozens of people who might have come in contact with passengers
who left the ship earlier.
What happened on the ship
Oceanwide Expeditions, the Dutch company that operates the MV Hondius,
offers “expedition cruises” that involve trips to the Antarctic and
several islands in the South Atlantic to see some of the remotest places
on Earth.
The cruises can last a month or more and cost between $6,000 and
$25,000, depending on the cabin.
The Hondius set off from southern Argentina on April 1.
On April 6, the 70-year-old Dutch man fell ill with fever, headache and
diarrhea, WHO said.
He died on board on April 11, after developing respiratory distress. The
ship was between the British island territories of South Georgia and St.
Helena in the middle of the South Atlantic, according to data from the
ship tracking website MarineTraffic. The cause of death could not be
determined, according to Oceanwide Expeditions.
The ship sailed on for nearly two weeks, stopping near the island of
Tristan da Cunha before reaching St. Helena, where the Dutch man's body
was removed on April 24. His 69-year-old wife disembarked.
The woman, who already had symptoms, became sicker during an April 25
flight to South Africa and collapsed at an airport there. She died at a
hospital on April 26, WHO said.
The patient in Switzerland also disembarked in St. Helena, according to
Swiss authorities, though his movements after that are not clear.
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The MV Hondius cruise ship departs the port in Praia, Cape Verde,
Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
 Another passenger, a British man,
became sick on the ship after it left St. Helena and sailed to tiny
Ascension Island, some 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) north. He had a
high fever, shortness of breath and signs of pneumonia, according to
WHO, and was evacuated from Ascension Island to South Africa on
April 27. He is in intensive care in South Africa.
The third fatality, a German woman, died on the ship on Saturday,
again after it had set sail for a new destination — this time Cape
Verde. She died four days after falling ill and also had signs of
pneumonia, WHO said, which can be caused by hantavirus. Her body is
still on the ship.
When authorities first knew hantavirus was on the ship
Health officials in South Africa tested the British man in intensive
care for hantavirus after tests for other ailments were negative.
They received a positive result for hantavirus on Saturday, 21 days
after the first passenger died.
On Sunday, WHO announced it was investigating a suspected hantavirus
outbreak on the ship, which had by that time reached Cape Verde
waters.
The British man's positive test prompted South African health
authorities to test the Dutch woman's body. That test came back
positive on Monday.
Swiss authorities announced the positive test on the man there on
Wednesday.
Contact tracing was underway.
The plan for the people still on board
After waiting off Cape Verde for three days, the ship headed to the
Canary Islands, where Spain said it would accept it. People on board
are from Britain, the United States, Spain, Netherlands, Germany and
more than a dozen other countries.
Passengers and crew have been isolated in cabins with “physical
distancing,” WHO said, in a lockdown reminiscent of the COVID-19
pandemic.
The source of the infections
WHO says it is investigating how a virus that is relatively rare in
people got aboard a cruise ship.
The Argentine government’s leading hypothesis is that the Dutch
couple who died contracted the virus during a bird-watching outing
in the city of Ushuaia before boarding, according to two
investigators. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they
were not authorized to brief the media, with the investigation
ongoing.
___
Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires, Argentina,
contributed to this report.
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