What countries are linked to the deadly Hantavirus outbreak that has killed 3?

FFive of eight suspected hantavirus cases linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship have now been confirmed, the World Health Organization said at a press conference on Thursday.

Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that the overall public health threat posed by the epidemic remains low, adding that WHO is aware of reports of other patients and that it is more likely due to the incubation period of the virus.

Countries around the world are scrambling to prevent further spread of the virus by tracking those who got off the ship before the virus was detected and those who have been in close contact with them since then.

Follow our live blog on the hantavirus outbreak here.

So far, three people have died on MV Hondius, including a Dutch couple and a German citizen.

The World Health Organization said eight people, including a Swiss citizen, were suspected of contracting the virus, which is usually spread by rodents but can also be transmitted between people in rare cases. On Thursday, five of those cases were confirmed to be Hantavirus.

Hantavirus is usually spread by rodents, but in rare cases it can also be transmitted between humans, the World Health Organization said.

People who may have been exposed to the virus are now scattered around the world, with passengers from at least 12 countries disembarking at St Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean during a stopover on April 24.

Argentina

MV Hondius left the city of Ushuaia in southern Argentina on April 1 with an Argentinian citizen on board.

The country’s health ministry has reported 101 hantavirus infections since June 2025; This number was recorded approximately twice in the same period of the previous year.

The source of the outbreak has not been confirmed, but the Argentine government is investigating whether infections started in the country. The government’s leading hypothesis is that a Dutch couple contracted the disease during a birding trip in Ushuaia, Argentina.

Argentina’s health ministry will now conduct rodent capture and analysis in Ushuaia while investigations continue.

Cape Verde

MV Hondius’ plan to dock in the West African archipelago was rejected and remained anchored off the coast for several days.

On 6 May she sailed for the Canary Islands; The island’s government also announced that they would not allow the boat to dock there.

Holland

The ship named MV Hondius is Dutch flagged. As a result, the Dutch government is coordinating assistance to those on board, the country’s foreign ministry said.

13 people on board, including eight passengers and five crew, are Dutch.

The three people who have died so far include two Dutch citizens and a husband and wife. The woman tested positive for hantavirus and died in South Africa.

The Dutch health ministry said on Thursday that a Dutch woman was taken to a hospital in Amsterdam after showing possible symptoms of hantavirus infection.

Dutch broadcaster RTL said the woman was a stewardess with Dutch airline KLM who had been in contact with a woman who died from a hantavirus infection in Johannesburg.

England

Operator Oceanwide Expeditions said 19 of the passengers and four of the crew were British nationals.

The World Health Organization said a British passenger with a high fever and symptoms of pneumonia was evacuated to South Africa on April 27. The passenger tested positive for the virus and is in intensive care.

Another British citizen, Martin Anstee, was among those evacuated on Wednesday.

Mr Anstee, the expedition guide, was one of two people hospitalized in the Netherlands. Sky Newsand told them he was “doing well” but “there are still a lot of tests that need to be done.”

The other two people self-quarantined in the UK after disembarking at St Helena.

WE

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it was monitoring the situation closely, adding that the risk to the American public was extremely low at that time.

Two asymptomatic residents who returned home after disembarking from the cruise ship are being monitored by the Georgia Department of Public Health.

The Arizona Department of Health Services said in a separate emailed statement that it was keeping an asymptomatic resident who was a passenger on the ship under observation.

California is monitoring an undisclosed number of residents who were on the ship, according to the New York Times.

Denmark

Danish health authorities said a Danish citizen who was in Hondius returned home and was advised to self-isolate as a precaution.

A person who does not have close contact with people who subsequently become ill is considered to be at low risk.

Germany

It was stated that there were eight German citizens on the ship, including one crew member.

It was stated that a female passenger who died on the ship was from Germany.

Another asymptomatic person was evacuated on Wednesday. The Düsseldorf University Clinic, which treated the German evacuee, said he was not a confirmed case but was a contact and was being tested.

Philippines

The crew of MV Hondius includes 38 people from the Philippines.

However, there is currently no recorded case of hantavirus in the country and officials emphasize that the risk is “extremely low”.

Singapore

Singapore’s Communicable Diseases Agency announced on Thursday that it had isolated and monitored two of its residents in the city-state.

“Test results are pending,” he said in an update. “One has a runny nose but is otherwise doing well, while the other is asymptomatic. The risk to the general public in Singapore is currently low.”

The country was notified earlier this week that two residents, aged 67 and 65, left Ushuaia by ship.

South Africa

A Dutch woman who died in South Africa had flown from St Helena after leaving the ship.

His condition worsened during a flight to Johannesburg, according to the World Health Organization, while South African media reported that he collapsed at OR Tambo International airport.

The government announced that the woman’s hantavirus infection was confirmed and South African health authorities later identified 62 people she had been in contact with.

Spain

MV Hondius, carrying approximately 150 people, is expected to dock at the port of Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands on Saturday.

On arrival in Tenerife, if they are still healthy, all non-Spanish citizens will be repatriated, while the 14 Spanish passengers will be quarantined in a military hospital in Madrid.

Switzerland

A person hospitalized in Switzerland on Monday was in stable condition but showed symptoms consistent with a hantavirus infection, including a low fever, body aches and cough, the hospital said.

The patient tested positive for the Andean strain and his wife did not show any symptoms but is self-isolating.

France

Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said a French citizen had been in contact with a person who fell ill but did not show symptoms.