Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise Ship Poses Low Global Risk, WHO Says
A deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius has killed three people and infected eight others, but the World Health Organization says the public health risk remains low and this is not the start of a COVID-like pandemic.
Hantavirus Cluster Aboard Cruise Ship
An outbreak of hantavirus aboard the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius has so far sickened eight people, killing three of them. As of 4 May 2026, seven cases (two laboratory confirmed cases of hantavirus and five suspected cases) have been identified, including three deaths, one critically ill patient and three individuals reporting mild symptoms.
Virus Details
The kind of hantavirus involved in this outbreak—a rare form known as Andes virus, WHO officials have confirmed—is the only hantavirus that can spread from person to person. Illness onset occurred between 6 and 28 April 2026 and was characterized by fever, gastrointestinal symptoms, rapid progression to pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome and shock.
International Response & Risk Assessment
"This is not coronavirus," said Maria van Kerkhove, director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness at the World Health Organization (WHO), at a May 7 press conference about the outbreak. "I want to be unequivocal here; this is not SARS-CoV-2 and not the start of a COVID pandemic." "While this is a serious incident, the WHO assesses the public health risk as low."
Current Status
The cruise ship is currently on its way to the Canary Islands where passengers and crew are expected to disembark. No one on board is currently symptomatic, said Ghebreyesus—who is in regular contact with the ship's captain—and people are being asked to stay in their cabins, which have been sanitized.