Hantavirus Outbreak: Cruise ship heads to Canary Islands as U.S. officials monitor passengers

A luxury cruise ship at the center of a deadly hantavirus outbreak is back on the move, heading toward the Canary Islands as global health officials race to contain the spread.
Posted 5/7/2026, 2:03:29 PM Updated 5/7/2026, 3:00:09 PM

This morning the cruise ship at the center of the

Hunta virus outbreak is back on the move heading towards

the Canary Islands

Sparking a global race to stop the virus spreading further

with contact tracing now underway in multiple countries

People who left the ship are being treated for the

disease in Switzerland South Africa and the Netherlands

Dutch authorities also announcing this morning that a flight attendant

has been admitted to the hospital with possible symptoms

She was on the same flight

As one of the cruise passengers with Hanta virus that

patient was removed from the plane before takeoff and later

died according to Dutch media

This is not the next COVID but it is a

serious infectious disease

While in the US authorities in Georgia Arizona and California

confirm they're monitoring residents who were on board the ship

and have since returned home

So far saying they are not showing symptoms of the

virus

3 people were evacuated from the luxury cruise ship yesterday

flown by special air ambulances from Cape Verde and 3

passengers have died so far

This was the moment the captain announced the first death

back on April 12th

This is my sad duty

to inform you that passengers

Sadly passed away last night

Going on to say the ship was safe the cruise

company responding at the time of the announcement no evidence

of a virus or contagion was present on the vessel

But the passenger who shot the video tells us something

seemed off

It turns out we were not well informed

Investigators now hunting for the source of the outbreak the

leading theory a

A Dutch couple on the ship who later died contracted

the virus while on a birdwatching trip in Argentina's southernmost

city

Two Argentine officials telling the Associated Press they visited this

landfill where they may have been exposed to rodents catching

the rare Andes strain of the virus which can be

transmitted from human to human causing the outbreak on the

ship and triggering alarm worldwide

© WRAL