Countries Quarantine Passengers from Hantavirus-Afflicted Cruise Ship

A Dutch cruise ship linked to a hantavirus outbreak anchored Sunday near Granadilla port in southeast Tenerife, Spain, letting dozens of passengers head home from around the world.

The MV Hondius departed Argentina on April 1 with 175 passengers and crew, Oceanwide Expeditions said. Thirty-two left the ship during a stop at St Helena on April 24. The World Health Organization confirmed the first hantavirus case on May 4. Three passengers died after the voyage—a Dutch couple and a German woman—with two confirmed to have the virus. The WHO has tallied nine cases total, seven confirmed and two suspected.

Countries responded with isolation and monitoring for those aboard.

In the UK, twenty British nationals, one German resident and one Japanese passenger reached Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside, northwest England, late Sunday. They face 72 hours of hospital checks and testing, followed by 42 days of home self-isolation. A chartered flight brought them to Manchester Airport under strict infection controls from the UK's Health Security Agency. Public Health Minister Sharon Hodgson said none showed symptoms but close monitoring continues as a precaution. "With no cases or symptoms among them and our stringent monitoring and isolation measures, the risk to the public remains extremely low," she said. Thirty-one British nationals sailed on the cruise; some left before the first confirmed case.

Eighteen US passengers returned home. Sixteen undergo screening at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, two in Atlanta. One tested positive and another shows symptoms, the United States Department of Health and Human Services reported. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance calls for 42 days of self-isolation with daily temperature checks.

Netherlands officials flew Dutch nationals from the MV Hondius on Sunday to Eindhoven for quarantine. Vans took them straight home, where health officials contact them daily. Thirteen Dutch—eight passengers, five crew—were aboard when the ship reached Tenerife. EU advice matches the UK's: triage by professionals, then six weeks of self-isolation and symptom monitoring, per the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Spain sent fourteen nationals from Tenerife to Madrid for mandatory quarantine at a military hospital. Tenerife and Canary Islands residents worried about the stop, but WHO officials said wider spread risk stays low due to the virus's nature. The ship anchors offshore; ferries bring passengers to the distant Granadilla port.

France confirmed its first case: a woman who fell ill on a flight from Tenerife to Paris. Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said she is isolating in Paris with worsening health; 22 contacts traced. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu noted all five French returnees entered strict isolation.

Germany's four returnees arrived overnight and stayed briefly in isolation at Frankfurt University Hospital before heading home to Berlin, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Schleswig-Holstein. They show no symptoms but face close monitoring, the federal health ministry said. Local authorities set further steps.

A Swiss man who left at St Helena tested positive after returning and receives care. His wife, who traveled with him, self-isolates without symptoms. Public risk in Switzerland is low, the Federal Office of Public Health stated.

Argentina probes the outbreak's start, as the ship began there. The WHO noted the first two cases involved a bird-watching trip through Argentina, Chile and Uruguay near rats carrying the virus.

The MV Hondius crew includes 38 Filipinos. No hantavirus cases appear in the Philippines, where officials call public risk extremely low.