WHO says Hantavirus outbreak ‘is not another COVID-19’ amid evacuations
Hantavirus outbreak: Cruise ship evacuated over concerns for US passengers
The deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship in the Netherlands led to a global health operation. Three passengers died and 150 passengers were evacuated to the Canary Islands, while US states are monitoring the 17 returning Americans. WHO clarifies that the Andes virus strain has low human-to-human spread, unlike COVID-19, and the CDC classifies it as a Level 3 emergency.
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17 Americans will be among 150 people evacuated from the M/V Hondius cruise ship following an outbreak of a Hantavirus strain, as the head of the World Health Organization told the public the trend was “not another COVID-19.”
The cruise ship, which will anchor off the coast of Spain’s Canary Islands on Sunday, will be attended by World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will follow.
On a long Saturday morning Message sent to XGhebreyesus reassured the world that the risk posed by Hantavirus to public health remains low.
“I know you’re worried. I know that when you hear the word ‘epidemic’ and watch a ship sailing towards your shores, memories come to the surface that none of us can truly put to rest,” Ghebreyesus wrote.
“The pain of 2020 is still real, and I’m not ignoring that for a second. But you need to hear me clearly: this is not another COVID-19. The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low. My colleagues and I have said this clearly, and now I will tell you again.”
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World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks at an event. (Lian Yi/Xinhua)
Ghebreyesus claimed that he would personally visit the Canary island of Tenerife, where the passengers would arrive, after evacuating the cruise ship.
“I plan to travel to Tenerife to observe this operation first-hand, to stand alongside the medical workers, port staff and authorities who carried it out, and to pay personal tribute to a candidate who responded to the difficult situation with grace, solidarity and compassion,” he wrote.
Healthcare workers disembarked from the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius cruise ship off the coast of Cape Verde on May 4, 2026, after three passengers died and several others became seriously ill due to a suspected hantavirus outbreak. (Kasem Elhato/AP)
The WHO chief continued: “Your humanity deserves to be witnessed, not just acknowledged from afar. As I have said many times, viruses are not interested in politics and do not respect borders. The best immunity we all have is solidarity.”
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However, Dr. Despite his assurances, Tedros also warned the public to be careful about the virus that caused the death of three people on the cruise ship.
“The virus on MV Hondius is the Andean strain of hantavirus. It is serious. Three people have lost their lives and our hearts go out to their families,” he wrote, but reiterated that the public health risk was low.
The cruise ship MV Hondius was stationary off the port of Praia in Cape Verde on May 3, 2026, amid an outbreak of severe acute respiratory disease in Johannesburg, South Africa, that caused two deaths and left a third patient in intensive care. According to South African health officials, the patient tested positive for hantavirus. (AFP via Getty Images)
The U.S. government plans to evacuate American travelers to a military base in Nebraska for quarantine and monitoring, Fox News Digital previously reported.
President Donald Trump weighed in personally on the outbreak, telling reporters Friday: “We have very good people looking after it. It seems to be OK. They know the virus very well. They’ve been working on it for a long time. They know it very well. It’s not easy to transmit. So we hope that’s true.”
Trump’s former Surgeon General nominee, Dr. “Our American passengers will be taken to Nebraska to a center where they will be monitored. They will be isolated, their vital signs, their temperature, their oxygen levels, their blood pressure will be checked,” Janet Nesheiwat told Fox News on Saturday.
“If they start to develop any symptoms, we can intervene early. Because currently there is no specific treatment for this virus other than supportive care such as oxygen, fluids, hydration, analgesics,” he said.
Fox News Digital contacted the WHO and CDC for further comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Fox News Digital’s Brittany Miller contributed to this report.
