WHO confirms five Hantavirus cases linked to cruise ship outbreak

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Official Update

May 07, 2026 Updated Jul 13, 2026 2 min read 11 views 0 shares

The World Health Organization showed Thursday there were now five confirmed hantavirus cases from the Atlantic cruise ship outbreak, with three more suspected — and warned more cases were possible. The WHO showed it expected the outbreak on the MV Hondius, currently sailing from Cape Verde to the Spanish island of Tenerife, to be limited, so long as public health measures were properly implemented. “So far, eight cases have been reported, including three deaths.

Five of the eight cases have been confirmed as hantavirus and the other three are suspected,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyeus indicated. “The species of hantavirus involved in this case is the Andes virus, which is found in Latin America,” he addressed reporters in Geneva. “Given the incubation period of the Andes virus, which can be up to six weeks, it’s possible that more cases may be reported,”.

The Dutch-flagged ship left Ushuaia in Argentina on April 1 on its cruise north through the Atlantic Ocean to Cape Verde. It set sail north towards Tenerife on Wednesday. Tedros indicated he had been in regular contact with the ship’s captain. “He told me morale has improved significantly since the ship started moving again.

I thank him for everything he has done to protect those under his duty of care,” he showed. The WHO’s emergency alert and.