'Work not over,' says WHO after hantavirus evacuation

Dutch evacuees from the Hondius cruise ship are received in EindhovenImage- Rob Engelaar-ANP-picture alliance. via DW News

Elizabeth Schumacher with AP, AFP, Reuters

Extensive testing, contact tracing, and quarantine procedures are still needed to contain the outbreak, WHO says. However, it has stressed that the current outbreak is vastly different to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The push to contain the recent hantavirus outbreak "is not over" yet, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday.

Tedros' comments came soon after it was announced that everyone aboard the virus-struck cruise ship MV Hondius had been evacuated from Spain's Canary Islands.

In a joint press conference with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Tedros said that there is "no sign that we are seeing the start of a larger outbreak...but of course the situation could change, and given the long incubation period of the virus, it's possible we might see more cases in the coming weeks."

What is the state of the hantavirus outbreak?

This strain of hantavirus can likely be traced to rodents in South America. 

On April 1, 2026, the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius left Argentina. Ten days later, a passenger died of hantavirus while on the ship and his wife died several days later in a hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa.

A third passenger, a German woman, perished and it was decided that the Hondius would dock at Tenerife while passengers were tested for the virus and those who were sick could be evacuated.

On Sunday and Monday, the remaining 120 passengers still aboard the Hondius were evacuated.

So far there have been eleven confirmed cases of hantavirus. The patients are in Spain, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the UK, and the US.

Several countries have confirmed their commitment to WHO guidelines for quarantine protocols and contact tracing. A Dutch hospital announced that 12 workers who did not follow proper guidelines would have to quarantine for 6 weeks.

The WHO has stressed that the hantavirus is not similar to COVID-19. 

Hantavirus has an incubation period of between 4 and 42 days. It can cause fever, muscle aches, and abdominal problems. It is also possible to have an asymptomatic case, however. – DW News