Hantavirus Ship
A passenger checks his camera inside his cabin on the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, during the voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026.
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The head of the World Health Organization is seeking to reassure residents of the Spanish island of Tenerife worried about the anticipated arrival there of a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship. He issued a direct message to them Saturday stressing that the virus is “not another COVID.” The MV Hondius has more than 140 passengers and crew on board. It is headed to Spain’s Canary Islands, off the coast of West Africa. It is expected to arrive at the island of Tenerife early Sunday. Once there, the passengers and some crew will disembark. Officials say no one on the ship is currently showing symptoms of hantavirus.
Passengers evacuated from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship have started flying home aboard military and government planes after the vessel anchored in the Canary Islands. Personnel in full-body protective gear and breathing masks had escorted the travelers from ship to shore Sunday in Tenerife, the largest island in the Spanish archipelago off West Africa. The effort flying out passengers from more than 20 countries was continuing Monday. The World Health Organization is recommending close monitoring of the former passengers, and many countries are quarantining them. U.S. officials say one American among the 17 being flown home tested positive but has no symptoms. One of the five French passengers taken to Paris developed symptoms on the flight.
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