WHO suspects hantavirus spread between close contacts on cruise ship

Three people are dead and seven have been infected with hantavirus aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship moored off Cape Verde, as the World Health Organization said Tuesday it suspects the deadly Andes strain spread between close contacts sharing cabins for the first time outside South America.

The outbreak on the Oceanwide Expeditions vessel marks a rare suspected case of person-to-person hantavirus transmission, a property associated almost exclusively with the Andes strain and previously documented mainly in South America. The WHO said the public risk remains low, but nearly 150 passengers and crew are stranded aboard and unable to disembark.

The MV Hondius, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, departed Ushuaia in southern Argentina in March 2026. A Dutch couple who shared a cabin are believed to have contracted the Andes strain before boarding; the husband died April 11 and his wife April 26, the Netherlands government confirmed. A German national also died of the disease.

A British passenger with confirmed hantavirus was evacuated from the ship and is in intensive care in South Africa, according to South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases. Two crew members also require urgent medical attention, the WHO said.

Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO Director of Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention, said the agency suspects limited transmission occurred between cabin mates. "We do believe that there may be some human to human transmission that's happening among the really close contacts, the husband and wife, people who have shared cabins," she told reporters in Geneva.

The WHO said it found no rats aboard the vessel. Some passengers may have been exposed during excursions to remote islands with rodent populations, health officials said. Hantavirus is typically contracted through contact with infected rodents or their urine, droppings, or saliva; the Andes strain is one of the few variants known, in rare cases, to pass between people.

Nearly 150 people remain aboard the ship, which Cape Verde authorities have barred from disembarking passengers. Berths on the voyage were priced between 14,000 and 22,000 euros, The Korea Times reported. Van Kerkhove addressed those stranded directly: "We have heard from quite a few people on the boat. We just want you to know we are working with the ship's operators. We are working with the countries where you are from. We hear you, we know that you are scared," she said.

The WHO said the overall public risk from the outbreak remains low, noting that hantavirus does not spread as readily as respiratory viruses. Health authorities in multiple countries are monitoring the situation and tracking the nationalities of those aboard as an international response continues.