The World Health Organization (WHO) is taking measures to mitigate the spread of hantavirus after eight cases, three of which resulted in death, were reported following an outbreak on a cruise ship.
So far, five of eight cases have been confirmed as hantavirus, according to the WHO. The organization is investigating the spread of the virus and developing plans for the remaining passengers to disembark from the ship, the MV Hondius.
While the situation is serious, WHO officials stressed during a Thursday news conference that the public health risk remains low.
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Two Canadians among passengers
Two Canadians are among the 30 passengers who disembarked a cruise ship that’s been hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak.
Ship operator Oceanwide Expeditions says the individuals left the boat on the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena on April 24.
The Canadian Press
Netherlands Hantavirus Ship Medics escort a patient, second right, evacuated from the MV Hondius cruise ship with suspected hantavirus infection, to an ambulance after being flown to Schiphol airport, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong) Nationals from 12 countries left ship
More than two dozen passengers from at least 12 different countries left a cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak on April 24 without contact tracing, nearly two weeks after the first passenger died on board, the ship operator and Dutch officials said Thursday.
The news raised concerns that the virus could spread as travellers returned home, although experts say the risk to the wider public is considered low as hantavirus isn’t easily transmitted between people.
The Associated Press. Read the full story here.
Cape Verde Hantavirus Ship The MV Hondius cruise ship departs the port in Praia, Cape Verde, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu) The first case
WHO officials say the first case was detected in a male passenger who developed symptoms on April 6. He died on April 11.
No samples were taken at the time, because crew staff did not suspect he had been infected with hantavirus.
The man’s wife was also symptomatic, and deboarded in Saint Helena, a small island in the Atlantic Ocean, west of Angola.
Her symptoms worsened during a flight to Johannesburg on April 25 and she died the following day.
Luca Caruso-Moro, CTVNews.ca journalist
Canada, other countries in contact with WHO
The World Health Organization said Thursday it had informed 12 countries that its nationals had disembarked the MV Hondius cruise ship on the remote British island of Saint Helena.
“Those 12 countries are Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkiye, the United Kingdom and the United States of America,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a media briefing in Geneva.
AFP
Switzerland World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), briefs the media during a press conference organized by the Geneva Association of United Nations Correspondents (ACANU), at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP) More cases possible
The WHO says it’s possible more cases will be reported and confirmed in the coming days as infected people develop symptoms. The organization says it has reached out to relevant authorities for people who may have had contact with infected passengers.
Luca Caruso-Moro, CTVNews.ca journalist
2,500 diagnostic kits
The WHO said Thursday that Argentina would send 2,500 hantavirus diagnostic kits to labs in five countries.
AFP