Flight Attendant from Hantavirus Cruise Ship Tests Negative; New Suspected Case on Remote Island

A flight attendant who served MV Hondius passengers tested negative for hantavirus, but a new suspected case emerged on Tristan da Cunha, where the ship stopped April 15, 2026. Six cases of Andes hantavirus are confirmed as of May 8, 2026, with three deaths. The MV Hondius arrives in Tenerife May 10, 2026, where seventeen American passengers will be met by CDC officials for repatriation to quarantine in Nebraska.

American passenger repatriation

• ▪The MV Hondius is expected to arrive in Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands on May 10, 2026
• ▪American passengers diagnosed with hantavirus would be moved to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit
• ▪A team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will meet the American passengers in Tenerife
• ▪Seventeen American passengers aboard the MV Hondius will quarantine at the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center campus in Omaha
• ▪The U.S. State Department is arranging a repatriation flight back to the U.S. for the seventeen American passengers from the MV Hondius

Confirmed hantavirus cases

• ▪None of the passengers who remain aboard the MV Hondius have tested positive for hantavirus as of May 8, 2026
• ▪The Dutch woman's husband died at sea aboard the MV Hondius
• ▪Six cases of the Andes hantavirus have been confirmed as of May 8, 2026
• ▪Two cases of the Andes hantavirus are probable as of May 8, 2026

Spanish patient under treatment

• ▪Test results for the Spanish patient should be ready in 24 to 48 hours from May 8, 2026
• ▪The Spanish patient was sitting two rows behind the person who died from hantavirus on the flight
• ▪The Spanish patient was on the same flight as a passenger who later died of hantavirus
• ▪The National Quarantine Unit is a secured facility on the University of Nebraska Medical Center campus in Omaha
• ▪A 32-year-old woman from Alicante, Spain is being treated at a hospital for a suspected hantavirus infection

Tristan da Cunha suspected case

• ▪The MV Hondius made its first scheduled stop at Tristan da Cunha on April 15, 2026
• ▪British authorities confirmed a new suspected hantavirus case on Tristan da Cunha on May 8, 2026

Disembarkation protocols

• ▪All British passengers from the MV Hondius will be asked to isolate for 45 days upon returning to the U.K.
• ▪MV Hondius passengers who test positive for hantavirus will be admitted to a High-Level Isolation and Treatment Unit until clinical recovery
• ▪Passengers and staff who were aboard the MV Hondius between April 1 and May 10, 2026 will quarantine at a Madrid military hospital under active monitoring

Outbreak source investigation

• ▪The first hantavirus case was a man who died on the MV Hondius 10 days after boarding on April 1, 2026