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Dangerous hantavirus under WHO lens after cruise alert: what to know

Aboard the Hondius ship on which a hantavirus outbreak is suspected to be circulating are 149 passengers, three of whom are dead and one British citizen admitted to intensive care

by Letizia Giostra

5 May 2026

Nave da crociera colpita da Hantavirus resta al largo di Capo Verde

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

The bulletin: three dead and three infected
The death of the Dutch couple
Infectiologists: 'Guard up but no unwarranted alarmism'
The incubation period

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Terror floats on water. All eyes are on the MV Hondius - a small Dutch-flagged cruise ship - where the suspicion is that there is a outbreak of hantavirus, a rare infection of animal origin that can also be transmitted to humans. This brings the number of deaths to three, while three cases have been diagnosed, namely one passenger and two crew members. The company Oceanwide Expeditions said in a statement that it was dealing with a 'serious medical situation', but without giving further details about the health status of the other cruise passengers.

The bulletin: three dead and three infected

There is reportedly an animal-origin virus on board the cruise ship which left Ushuaia on 20 March for Cape Verde and was scheduled to arrive on 4 May. The latest bulletin reports three deaths: a Dutch married couple and a German citizen. Three people tested positive for the virus: a British citizen - admitted in serious condition to a hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa - and two crew members, who remained on board the ship. On the list are 149 passengers from around 23 countries, plus more than 50 crew members.

The death of the Dutch couple

There is an elderly couple among the victims of the virus. This was confirmed by the Dutch Foreign Ministry, the country of origin of the couple. The man, aged 70, reportedly suffered fever, headache, abdominal pain and diarrhoea. His death occurred while the ship was off the island of St Helena, where the body was later taken pending repatriation. His wife, aged 69, was transferred to South Africa, where she reportedly collapsed at Johannesburg airport and died at a nearby hospital.

Hantavirus, almeno tre morti su nave da crociera MV Hondius

Infectiologists: 'Guard up but no unwarranted alarmism'

Its name is Hantavirus and it is creating panic among the passengers of the ship Hondius, currently located off the coast of Africa and heading for the Canary archipelago in the Atlantic, after the denied stopover in Cape Verde. The call from the president of the Italian Society of Infectious and Tropical Diseases (Simit), Cristina Mussini, is to keep the guard up, without 'unjustified alarmism'.

It is a virus transmitted to humans by animal vectors, including rodents. Infection occurs by direct contact with faeces, saliva, urine of infected mice or by inhalation of the virus through their excrement.

Human-to-human transmission is rare, according to the president. Symptoms can be respiratory, such as interstitial pneumonia, but also severe kidney failure. The expert then reassures, emphasising that this is a known infection in the literature, which has been present for years, especially in the Balkan territories.

The incubation period

The last knot to unravel is that of incubation, the period between contagion and the appearance of the first symptoms. We will have to wait for the outcome of the epidemiological investigation to understand what really happened on board the ship. On this Cristina Mussini pointed out that the Hantavirus has an incubation period that varies from 2 to 20 days. The hypothesis is that one or more passengers were already positive for the virus during embarkation.

Epidemiologist Michael Baker, questioned by the BBC, returns to this point. Also according to the New Zealand expert, travellers would have been infected before boarding the cruise ship, precisely because of the long incubation period of the virus.