A suspected Hantavirus outbreak on board a cruise ship, MV Hondius, has resulted in the deaths of three of its passengers and left numerous others seriously ill, including several British people. The World Health Organization confirmed seven cases as authorities blocked the vessel from docking in Cape Verde, forcing urgent medical evacuations and international coordination.
A luxury cruise ship carrying 149 passengers from 23 countries remains stranded off Cape Verde after a suspected hantavirus outbreak killed three people and left others in critical condition. Since setting sail from southern Argentina in March, the MV Hondius, owned by Oceanwide Expeditions, had reported a growing number of medical emergencies. On May 4, 2006, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that seven individuals had contracted hantavirus, with two and five possible cases. The outbreak has already claimed the lives of a married couple from the Netherlands and a German national. A 69-year-old British tourist remains in intensive care in Johannesburg, South Africa, after testing positive for a hantavirus variant.
Oceanwide Expeditions confirmed that two crew members-a British and a Dutch national-continue to show acute respiratory symptoms, one severe and one mild, requiring urgent medical care. The company is working with Dutch authorities to arrange repatriation for affected staff and the deceased passenger.
Cape Verdean health officials denied the ship permission to dock, citing public health concerns. Instead, they coordinated with the Netherlands and the UK to prepare for possible air ambulance evacuations. Oceanwide Expeditions is considering diverting the vessel to Spain’s Canary Islands, potentially Las Palmas or Tenerife, for further medical screening.
The outbreak timeline began on April 11, when a Dutch passenger died after disembarkation in St Helena. Days later, his wife collapsed at a South African airport and later died in the hospital. On April 27, a British passenger was evacuated to Johannesburg, where he remains in critical but stable condition. The crisis deepened with the death of a German passenger on May 2 nd.
Hantavirus is passed to humans by rodents through infected urine and feces and can kill by causing respiratory disease. While WHO stressed that the wider public risk remains low, South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases has launched contact tracing in Johannesburg. The UK’s Foreign Office confirmed it is monitoring the situation closely.
Passengers onboard expressed growing anxiety. U.S. Travel blogger Jake Rosmarin posted a video describing the uncertainty: “We’re not just headlines: we are people… With families, with lives, with people waiting for us at home.”
Oceanwide Expeditions said strict isolation and hygiene protocols remain in place onboard. The company’s website lists the Hondius as offering 33- and 43-night “Atlantic Odyssey” cruises, traveling through Antarctica and remote islands before crossing the Atlantic.
The Netherlands’ National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) noted that the source of infection remains unclear. Investigators are exploring whether rodents onboard transmitted the virus or if passengers contracted it during stops in South America.
WHO emphasized that while hantavirus outbreaks are rare, they can spread between people. The virus previously made headlines in 2025 when Betsy Arakawa, wife of actor Gene Hackman, died from hantavirus in New Mexico. In 2019, an outbreak in southern Argentina killed at least nine people and forced a month-long lockdown in a remote town.
While the MV Hondius is currently docked off Cape Verde, international entities are cooperating with medical evacuation, repatriation and quarantine efforts, to ensure the health of the passengers and the public.
