The hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius left Spain’s Canary Islands bound for the Netherlands on Monday, after the last passengers disembarked and were flown home to quarantine.

Three people died after the rare virus was detected on board the Dutch-flagged vessel, sparking a global health scare. No vaccines or specific treatments exist for hantavirus.

What is the hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship?

The MV Hondius cruise ship suffered a hantavirus outbreak that killed three people and infected passengers of six nationalities. Health officials confirmed seven cases and one probable case, according to the World Health Organization.

Authorities have insisted the risk to the public is low and dismissed comparisons to the Covid-19 pandemic.

When will the MV Hondius arrive in the Netherlands?

The ship departed Tenerife on Monday evening after the last 28 people were taken off, according to AFP reporters at the scene. Cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions said the vessel was expected to take six days to sail to Rotterdam, with a provisional arrival date of Sunday evening, 17 May 2026.

The ship has 25 crew and two medical staff on board, and is also carrying the body of a German passenger who died during the cruise.

The complex evacuation procedure saw 94 people of 19 different nationalities taken from the vessel on Sunday. Spanish authorities said the ship, originally authorized only to anchor offshore on health and safety grounds, docked in port due to unfavourable weather.

AFP journalists at the small industrial port of Granadilla on Tenerife saw workers connect a walkway to the ship as passengers left for their repatriation flights.

Can hantavirus be transmitted between people?

The Andes virus is the only hantavirus strain transmissible between humans. The US health department confirmed late Sunday that one American national evacuated from the ship had tested positive for the Andes virus, while another had mild symptoms.

The WHO believes the first infection occurred before the voyage began, followed by human-to-human transmission on board.

Which passengers have tested positive for hantavirus?

A French woman placed in isolation in Paris started to feel unwell on Sunday night and tested positive, Health Minister Stephanie Rist confirmed.

A Spanish passenger has also tested positive, though results for 13 other Spanish evacuees came back negative, according to the health ministry in Madrid. Seven cases have been confirmed in total across citizens of six countries.

Twelve staff members at a Dutch hospital treating an evacuee who tested positive were placed in preventative quarantine due to procedural errors when taking blood and disposing of the patient’s urine. They will be isolated for six weeks as a precaution, “even though the risk of infection is low,” the Radboud University Hospital said. The final evacuees included Australians, a New Zealander, a Briton and crew members.

How did the hantavirus outbreak start on the MV Hondius?

The MV Hondius left Argentina, where hantavirus is endemic, on April 1 for a cruise across the Atlantic Ocean to Cape Verde. Argentine health officials have questioned whether the outbreak originated in Ushuaia, citing the virus’s weeks-long incubation period and other factors.

The WHO’s current position is that the first infection occurred before the voyage began, with subsequent transmission between passengers on board.

Spain’s health ministry defended the rigor of the evacuation process, where medical teams escorted passengers from the ship to an airport on Tenerife under close supervision and following health checks.

“From the start, all measures adopted have aimed at cutting the possible chains of transmission,” it said in a statement. Health authorities in several countries are continuing to track passengers who had already disembarked, as well as anyone who may have come into contact with them.