Hantavirus Protocol Breach Forces Quarantine of 12 Dutch Hospital Staff After Cruise Ship Case

Twelve healthcare workers at Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen have been placed under precautionary quarantine after an error in handling a hantavirus patient evacuated from the MV Hondius cruise ship. The hospital confirmed that standard blood-taking procedures were used instead of the stricter infection-control protocol required for the virus.

According to the medical center, the lapse also included incorrect handling of the patient’s urine waste, which did not comply with updated international safety regulations. The institution stressed that the measure is precautionary, stating that “the risk of infection is low,” but that quarantine will last six weeks as a safety step.

Hospital board chair Bertine Lahuis said the situation is being reviewed internally. “We regret that this has happened at our university medical center. We will carefully investigate the course of events to learn from this and to prevent it from happening in the future,” she noted.

Cruise ship evacuation and confirmed cases

The incident is connected to a broader health emergency involving the MV Hondius, which has been undergoing a large-scale evacuation after multiple hantavirus infections were detected onboard. The virus, typically transmitted through rodents, led to three reported deaths and at least seven confirmed infections, with another case classified as probable, according to international health authorities.

The final group of 28 evacuees left the vessel earlier this week, traveling via Tenerife before flying onward to the Netherlands. Among them were crew members of several nationalities, as well as medical and epidemiological staff involved in the response operation. Passengers arrived in Eindhoven carrying sealed personal belongings and wearing protective masks.

Vessel return and public health response

Following the evacuation, the Dutch-flagged cruise ship is now expected to return to Rotterdam, where it will undergo full disinfection procedures. Health authorities have emphasized that while the outbreak is serious within the confined ship environment, the wider public risk remains limited.

Officials have also reiterated that there are currently no vaccines or specific treatments for hantavirus infections. Despite the severity of the cluster on board, experts have ruled out comparisons with the COVID-19 pandemic, pointing instead to the virus’s rare and localized transmission pattern.

The hospital’s internal review is ongoing, focusing on how established safety protocols were bypassed and how procedures can be reinforced in future high-risk cases.