Hantavirus Outbreak Spreads Across Europe with Protocol Breach at Dutch Hospital and New Case in Spain

A hantavirus outbreak linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship has resulted in nine confirmed cases across Europe, with three deaths including a Dutch couple and a German national, as the WHO increased its case count on May 12, 2026. Radboudumc hospital in Nijmegen quarantined 12 staff members for six weeks after they handled patient samples without proper protocols, though the hospital assessed infection risk as very low. A new case was confirmed in Spain among 14 people quarantined at a Madrid military hospital, while a French passenger remains in intensive care in stable condition. The cruise ship is sailing to the Netherlands with 25 crew, a doctor and nurse, expected to arrive May 17, while 18 U.S. passengers were flown home for quarantine and all earlier disembarked passengers have been located.

Dutch hospital protocol breach

• ▪Radboudumc hospital admitted its hantavirus patient, a passenger from the cruise ship, on May 7, 2026
• ▪Radboudumc hospital in Nijmegen, Netherlands quarantined 12 staff members as a preventive measure after blood and urine from a hantavirus patient were handled without observing strict protocols
• ▪The infection risk for the 12 quarantined staff members at Radboudumc hospital was very low according to the hospital
• ▪The 12 quarantined staff members at Radboudumc hospital will be quarantined for six weeks

Hondius cruise ship outbreak

• ▪Three people have died since the start of the hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius: a Dutch couple and a German national
• ▪Oceanwide Expeditions is the owner of the MV Hondius cruise ship
• ▪The MV Hondius cruise ship set sail for the Netherlands late on May 11, 2026 with 25 crew, a doctor and a nurse after the last passengers disembarked in Spain's Canary Islands
• ▪The MV Hondius is expected to arrive in the Netherlands by May 17, 2026

Global case tracking

• ▪All confirmed and suspected hantavirus cases are considered to have been contaminated on the cruise trip or before boarding the ship
• ▪A French passenger from the MV Hondius tested positive for hantavirus after the ship docked in the Canary Islands on May 10, 2026 and was in intensive care but in a stable condition
• ▪Definitive tests confirmed negative results for 13 people in quarantine at a military hospital in Madrid on May 12, 2026
• ▪The WHO recognizes two suspected hantavirus cases: one person who died before being tested, and one on Tristan da Cunha where there were no tests available
• ▪18 passengers from the MV Hondius were flown back to the U.S. and quarantined
• ▪One passenger from the MV Hondius who tested weakly positive for hantavirus is in a Nebraska biocontainment unit
• ▪The World Health Organization increased its tally of confirmed hantavirus cases in the outbreak to nine on May 12, 2026, up by two from the previous day
• ▪Italy's top infectious diseases hospital will examine biological samples from a man who had been in contact with the Dutch woman who died of hantavirus
• ▪A Spaniard tested positive for hantavirus and was one of 14 quarantining at a military hospital in Madrid

International coordination response

• ▪All passengers who had disembarked the MV Hondius at earlier stages in the cruise had been located as of May 12, 2026
• ▪The hantavirus does not spread easily from person to person

Perspective of World Health Organization

• ▪The WHO director stated there is no sign of a larger hantavirus outbreak beyond the cruise ship cases