Spain says hantavirus cruise ship will dock in Tenerife, amid opposition from regional government

LAST UPDATE | 13 mins ago

SPAIN’S HEALTH MINISTER has said that a cruise ship that has been hit by a deadly outbreak of hantavirus will dock at Granadilla on the island of Tenerife “within three days”, despite opposition from the Canary Islands regional government.

“A joint system for health assessment and evacuation will be put in place to repatriate all passengers, unless their medical condition prevents it,” Monica García Gomez told a Madrid news conference.

She said the 14 Spanish nationals – including one crew member – on board the MV Hondius will be transferred to Madrid’s Gomez Ulla Military Hospital.

García said the government was monitoring the international alert “minute by minute” to take all steps to prevent any potential spread of the virus.

The MV Hondius has been at the centre of an international health scare since Saturday, when the World Health Organization was informed that the rare disease – usually spread from infected rodents typically through urine, droppings and saliva – was suspected of being behind the deaths of three of its passengers.

As others fell ill, passengers and crew have been in isolation after Cape Verde’s authorities barred the ship from docking. The ship is anchored just off the island nation’s capital, Praia.

Spain’s health ministry had said the WHO explained that the Canary Islands were “the closest place with the necessary capabilities” medically.

However, Fernando Clavijo, president of the Canary Islands, today said he has requested an urgent meeting with ‌Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez to discuss the issue. 

“This decision is not based ​on any technical criteria, nor ​is there sufficient information to reassure the public or guarantee their safety,” Clavijo told Spanish ​radio station COPE, as reported by Reuters.

But García said she had been in “constant contact” with Clavijo and he would take part in all meetings.

A source close to the Canary Islands presidency earlier told AFP that a medical evacuation flight planned to transfer a doctor from the ship to the archipelago had been cancelled, without giving a reason.

The Dutch operator Oceanwide Expeditions earlier said it remains “in close and continual discussion with relevant authorities regarding our exact point of arrival, quarantine and screening procedures for all guests, and a precise timeline”.

“We are unable to confirm the details of onward travel for guests at this stage. This is dependent on medical advice and the outcome of stringent screening procedures.” 

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Patients evacuated

The WHO chief confirmed this morning that two sick crew members and a third person who had been in close contact with a German passenger who died on Saturday has been evacuated from the ship. 

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the patients are now on their way to receive medical care in the Netherlands. 

“WHO continues to work with the ship’s operators to closely monitor the health of passengers and crew, working with countries to support appropriate medical follow-up and evacuation where needed,” he said.

“Monitoring and follow-up for passengers on board and for those who have already disembarked has been initiated in collaboration with the ship’s operators and national health authorities.”

He thanked those involved and said at this stage, the “overall public health risk remains low”.

The MV Hondius cruise ship is expected to depart the Cape Verde archipelago following the medical evacuation.

The ship’s operator said two infectious disease physicians will come aboard and remain on the vessel after it leaves Cape Verde. An additional medical professional is already on the ship.

The Swiss health ministry confirmed this morning that a former passenger on the ship has been hospitalised in Zurich and has tested positive for hantavirus. 

“One person with a hantavirus infection is currently being treated at the University Hospital Zurich,” said a ministry statement.

It added that the man “returned to Switzerland after travelling on the cruise ship on which there were a number of hantavirus cases”.

Human-to-human strain confirmed

Meanwhile, South Africa’s health minister has said the Andes strain of the hantavirus that is transmissible between humans has been confirmed in a passenger evacuated to the country from the stricken cruise ship.

“The preliminary tests show that, indeed, this is the Andes strain,” South Africa’s health minister Aaron Motsoaledi told a parliament committee.

“And it happens to be the only strain out of the 38 that is known to cause human to human transmission. But as we said, we want to repeat again, such transmission is very rare and only happens due to very close contact between people.”

The cruise, which set sail from Ushuaia in Argentina on 1 April destined for Cape Verde, counted 88 passengers and 59 crew members, with 23 nationalities on board, the WHO said.

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One of the dead, a Dutch woman, had left the ship at the Atlantic island of Saint Helena and flew to Johannesburg, where she died on 26 April.

Two hantavirus cases have been confirmed – including in one of the fatalities and a British passenger currently in intensive care in Johannesburg – with five further suspected cases, the WHO said.

Three of those seven have died; the one in Johannesburg was critically ill, and three still on board had reported milder symptoms, including one who is now asymptomatic, it said.

The WHO was trying to deduce how hantavirus had appeared on the ship, with the first person who died having developed symptoms on 6 April.

Human-to-human transmission has only been reported in previous outbreaks of one specific hantavirus called Andes virus, which circulates in South America.

WHO epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention director Maria Van Kerkhove told reporters the virus species had yet to be confirmed but highlighted that WHO had been told “there are no rats on board” the ship.

Contact-tracing

The first two fatalities were a Dutch couple – a man who died on 11 April and his wife who died after she disembarked in Saint Helena to accompany his body.

The wife was suffering from “gastrointestinal symptoms” and “deteriorated” during a flight to Johannesburg on 25 April, the WHO said. She died the following day.

Efforts are under way to trace people on that flight, which South African-based carrier Airlink said was carrying 82 passengers and six crew.

The South African authorities had asked the airline to notify the passengers that they must contact the health department, a representative, Karin Murray, told AFP.

Van Kerkhove said the typical incubation period for hantavirus was between one and six weeks, leading the WHO to believe that the Dutch couple, who had been travelling in South America, “were infected off the ship”.

© AFP 2026