Dutch Authorities Lead Hondius Evacuations After Hantavirus Outbreak

Dutch authorities agreed to lead a joint medical repatriation effort for two symptomatic people aboard Oceanwide Expeditions' MV Hondius after a suspected hantavirus outbreak on the vessel left three passengers dead. The Dutch-flagged ship was off Cape Verde after sailing from Ushuaia, Argentina, and Oceanwide said any evacuation would require approval from Cape Verdean authorities.

The response drew World Health Organization involvement after one passenger in intensive care in Johannesburg tested positive for hantavirus and five additional cases were under review. The Hondius cluster is the first known hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship, and health officials said the wider public risk remained low despite the severity of several cases.

Evacuation depended on Cape Verde clearance

Oceanwide, based in Vlissingen in the Netherlands, said it was handling "a serious medical situation" aboard the vessel. The company confirmed that two passengers died on board and a third died after leaving the ship, while another passenger remained in intensive care in South Africa.

The two people requiring urgent care were still on the Hondius when Dutch authorities moved to organize their transfer from Cape Verde to the Netherlands. Cape Verdean doctors had boarded the ship to assess them, but local authorities had not approved evacuation to shore at that stage.

"It's been very tricky for Cape Verdean authorities," Dr. Ann Lindstrand, a WHO official in Cape Verde, told The Associated Press. "What they have to deal with is a public health event."

WHO said it was coordinating with governments and the ship's operator on medical evacuation, risk assessment and support for those still aboard. The agency also said it had notified national focal points under the International Health Regulations as laboratory testing and epidemiological investigations continued.

Outbreak timeline widened contact tracing

The Hondius left Ushuaia on April 1 for a voyage that included Antarctica and remote South Atlantic islands. A 70-year-old Dutch man became ill on April 6 and died on board five days later; his wife later disembarked at St. Helena and died in South Africa after collapsing while trying to fly home.

A British passenger evacuated to South Africa on April 27 tested positive for hantavirus, the first confirmed case in the outbreak. A German woman later died aboard the ship on May 2, while the vessel was sailing toward Cape Verde.

The St. Helena call complicated the public health response because about 30 guests disembarked there on April 24 before hantavirus had been identified. Authorities in several countries began monitoring former passengers and their contacts, and WHO noted that symptoms can appear one to eight weeks after exposure.

Hantavirus is most often associated with exposure to infected rodents, including urine, droppings or saliva. The Andes virus strain linked to the Hondius outbreak can spread between people in rare cases, generally after close and prolonged contact, according to health officials.

Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said the illness can be severe. "The risk to the wider public remains low," he said. "There is no need for panic or travel restrictions."

Hondius later headed to Rotterdam for disinfection

The 107.6-meter Hondius is a Polar Class 6 expedition vessel that normally carries about 170 to 174 passengers on polar voyages, with roughly 70 crew members depending on the voyage profile. Oceanwide has said it had no indication of rodents aboard, and investigators had not publicly identified a definitive source of exposure.

French researchers at the Pasteur Institute later sequenced the Andes virus detected in a Hondius passenger and found it matched viruses already known in South America, with no evidence at that point of new characteristics that would make it more transmissible or more dangerous.

After the Cape Verde standoff, Spain accepted the vessel for passenger evacuation in the Canary Islands. More than 120 passengers and some crew were repatriated or placed in isolation in multiple countries before the ship continued to Rotterdam with 25 crew members, two medical personnel and the body of the German passenger who died aboard.

In Rotterdam, Dutch public health officials said the remaining crew would quarantine and undergo testing, while the vessel would be decontaminated under Dutch public health guidelines. Yvonne van Duijnhoven, director of public health in Rotterdam, said crew members had not shown symptoms and that officials had "very strict protocols" to keep the virus from leaving the ship.

Oceanwide has listed an Arctic sailing from Keflavik, Iceland, for May 29, but the company later said it expected clarity on the Hondius schedule only after authorities completed their review. "A ship cannot sail without official authorization," Oceanwide said.