Officials are searching for more than 30 passengers who left the cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak on April 24 without contact tracing, nearly two weeks after the first passenger died on board, according to the ship operator and Dutch officials.
The news comes after concerns were raised that the virus could spread as travellers returned home, although experts say the risk to the public is considered “low.”
In an update on Thursday, Oceanwide Expeditions, the Dutch company that operates the cruise ship, said it continues to “manage an ongoing medical situation on board m/v Hondius.”
“Oceanwide Expeditions can confirm that on 1 April 2026, 114 guests boarded m/v Hondius in Ushuaia, Argentina. 30 guests disembarked m/v Hondius on Saint Helena on 24 April 2026,” the company said.
“This number includes the body of the guest who passed away on board m/v Hondius on 11 April 2026. The first confirmed case of hantavirus was not reported until 4 May 2026. These disembarked guests have all been contacted by Oceanwide Expeditions. We are working to establish details of all passengers and crew who embarked and disembarked on various stops of m/v Hondius since March 20.”
The Dutch Foreign Ministry put the number at 40 people, according to The Associated Press.
There are two Canadian passengers included in the 30 guests who disembarked at St. Helena on April 24.
During a press conference on Thursday, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), said the Public Health Agency of Canada is following up on the two Canadians who have disembarked.
The search for the disembarked passengers comes after the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health confirmed that a passenger who travelled on the first leg of the voyage, from Ushuaia to St. Helena, April 1 to 24, has tested positive for hantavirus and is currently being treated at the University Hospital Zurich.
The first confirmed case of hantavirus in a passenger on the ship was only on May 2, the WHO has previously said. That involved a British man evacuated from the ship to South Africa from Ascension Island three days after the St. Helena stop.
Three passengers have died in the outbreak, and several others are sick. Three people, including the ship’s doctor, were evacuated Wednesday while the ship was near the West African island country of Cape Verde and taken to Europe for treatment.
The body of the third fatality, a German woman, is still on board the ship after she died on May 2.
Hantavirus usually spreads by the inhalation of contaminated rodent droppings and, in rare cases, can be transmitted from person to person, according to the WHO. Symptoms usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure.
There is no specific treatment or cure for hantavirus, but early medical attention can increase the chance of survival.
The vessel is now sailing to Spain’s Canary Islands, a voyage that is expected to take three or four days, with more than 140 passengers and crew members still on board.
The first two cases “travelled through Argentina, Chile and Uruguay on a bird-watching trip which included visits to sites where the species of rat known to carry the virus was present,” Ghebreyesus said.
The WHO is working with authorities in Argentina to learn more about the couple’s movements while there, he added. The deceased pair have been identified as a Dutch couple, a man aged 70 and a woman aged 69.
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Ghebreyesus said he has been in touch with the captain of the MV Hondius, who said that morale has improved “significantly” since the ship began to move again to the Canary Islands.
Ghebreyesus asked for “global solidarity” as the ship heads to the Canary Islands and said he asked Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to accept the ship.
“We made a request to Spain and I have actually sent a letter personally to his excellence the prime minister. And based on that request, because this is part of the IHR regulation, the prime minister has accepted,” he said.
“Solidarity is the most important here, and that’s what the prime minister has shown. But on top of that, I think everybody has the moral duty to take care of the people who are on the ship. So I hope those who have concerns at the Canary Island will understand and support and co-operate with the federal government.”
He said he understands “their concerns” but added that “based on the risk assessment that we have, the risk to the people in Canary Island is actually low.”
“We are confident in the capacity of Spain to manage this risk and we’re supporting them to do so,” he said.
Oceanwide Expeditions said that the ship is estimated to arrive at the port of Grandilla, Tenerife “in the early hours of Sunday, May 10” but notes “this is subject to change.”
Ghebreyesus also said he is aware of reports of other people with symptoms who may have had contact with passengers and the WHO is in touch with the relevant authorities.
He confirmed that investigations into the course of the outbreak are still underway.
When asked if the hantavirus outbreak is comparable to the “early days or weeks of the coronavirus pandemic,” Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness, said “this is not coronavirus.”
“This is a very different virus. We know this virus. Hantavirus has been around for quite a while. There’s a lot of detail that we know,” she said on Thursday. “I want to be unequivocal here: this is not SARS-CoV-2. This is not the start of a COVID pandemic. This is an outbreak that we see on a ship.”
Kerkhove said the outbreak took place in a “confined area.”
“We have five confirmed cases so far. We completely understand why these questions are coming and we are trying to provide all of the information that we can,” she continued. “We’re grateful for all of those who are asking these types of questions but this is not the same situation we were in six years ago.”
Hantavirus doesn’t spread the same way as COVID-19, according to Kerkhove.
“Most hantaviruses don’t transmit between people at all. Most hantaviruses are transmitted from rodents or their feces or their saliva in their droppings to people. And only this one particular virus, the Andes virus, which has been identified here, we’ve seen some human-to-human transmission,” Kerkhove explained.
She reiterated that the actions being taken on board are “precautionary to prevent any onward spread.”
“There’s a lot that is being done right now to be able to minimize the risk even further,” Kerkhove added.
Kerkhove said authorities have asked “everyone to wear a mask” on board the MV Hondius.
Those passengers in contact with or caring for suspected cases should “wear a higher level of personal protective equipment,” she added.
Kerkhove said the number of cases may rise as contact tracing continues, but the Andes hantavirus usually only spreads through close human-to-human contact.
“This is not COVID, this is not influenza; it spreads very, very differently,” she said.
The Andes strain is found in South America, primarily in Argentina and Chile, according to the WHO. To date, it is the only type of hantavirus in which human-to-human transmission has been confirmed, usually through close contact, such as by sharing a bed or sharing food, experts say.
Death rates vary based on which hantavirus causes the illness. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is fatal in about 35 per cent of people infected, while the death rate for hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome varies from one per cent to 15 per cent of patients, according to the CDC.
Since 1989, there have been 109 confirmed cases and 27 deaths in Canada due to a hantavirus infection, the government of Canada reports.
Oceanwide Expeditions said the second of two medicalized aircraft, carrying one of the three individuals transferred from the ship on Wednesday, has landed in the Netherlands.
“Specialist medical and screening teams have received the individual on board. All three individuals, two symptomatic and one asymptomatic, are now in the care of medical professionals,” the company said.
Medical professionals on the ship continue to monitor the passengers on board the MV Hondius, which has departed Cape Verde and is sailing for the Canary Islands, to the port of Granadilla in Tenerife.
“This is expected to take 3-4 days. No symptomatic individuals are present on board. Oceanwide Expeditions remains in close and continual discussion with relevant authorities regarding our exact point of arrival, quarantine and screening procedures for all guests, and a precise timeline,” the company added.
During Thursday’s press conference, Kerkhove said a WHO expert is on board the ship, together with two Dutch infectious disease physicians.
“They have received protocols, they’re asking questions related to the exposures of the people on board to really understand what type of contact did they have with any of the suspected cases or confirmed cases and what did they generally do on the ship before they got on the ship,” she said.
There is a step-by-step plan being developed with many experts to figure out the protocol for what happens once the ship docks, Kerkhove said.
“What is really critical is that people have the right information. This also includes people who disembarked from St. Helena, people who have been on board. If you are developing any symptoms to present yourself to health care and just say, ‘This is my potential exposure, might be hantavirus,’ and then you’ll be isolated and tested and provided care,” she added.
“I do want to reiterate contextually what we’re talking about. The risk to the general public is low. Hantaviruses are relatively uncommon, even though there may be thousands of cases. We’re trying to take this in a staged approach.”
The WHO is working with all of the countries that have nationals on board the ship to discuss the plans for their safe journey home, Kerkhove said.
Passengers will be medically evaluated once they disembark the ship and plans are currently being developed.
Anaïs Legand, technical expert for the WHO, said “step-by-step guidance” is being developed to support disembarked passengers returning home.
Anyone with symptoms will be “properly isolated and cared for,” with all passengers being “evaluated for their risk exposure.”
Health officials are currently tracking down dozens of people in South Africa who might have been near infected passengers.
Two passengers left the cruise ship in South Africa, and one has died, while the other remains hospitalized.
Health officials in that country have identified 62 people — airplane passengers, airport workers, health workers, hospital cleaners, port of entry officials — who likely had contact with those two patients.
So far, officials have tracked down 42 of them, and none tested positive for hantavirus.
— with files from The Associated Press
