The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health agreed in a meeting held early this Tuesday afternoon that a team of epidemiologists will review the condition of the 147 people on board the luxury cruise ship MV Hondius before making a decision on whether the ship, currently stranded off Cape Verde due to a hantavirus outbreak, will finally head towards the Canary Islands.
“This intervention is intended to assess the condition of the people inside the ship, and to determine if there are more people with symptoms, and what high-risk or low-risk contacts there are. This will help decisions regarding repatriation processes and the ship’s route,” the Ministry of Health stated via the social network X.
The WHO, which last night raised the number of people affected by the outbreak to seven — one of whom has already recovered — had stated that it plans to evacuate two sick people from the cruise and that it will head to the Canary Islands with the rest of the passengers, who are in good health.
The Ministry of Health, however, has denied this and has not wanted to go that far for now, as made clear in a statement: “Based on the epidemiological data collected from the ship during its passage through Cape Verde, the most appropriate stopover will be decided. Until then, the Ministry of Health will not make any decision, as we have informed the WHO.”
The destination of the vessel, flying the Dutch flag and currently anchored off the coast of Cape Verde with 147 people on board including passengers and crew, is the focus of intense negotiations today between the WHO, the countries involved, and the cruise operator, Oceanwide Expeditions.
The WHO’s director of epidemic and pandemic prevention and preparedness, Maria Van Kerkhove, stated in Geneva that the organization is “working with the Spanish authorities” and took for granted that the Canary Islands “will host the ship [and Spain] will carry out a thorough investigation, a complete epidemiological investigation, a total disinfection of the ship and, of course, will assess the risk to the passengers on board.” The Ministry of Health, however, has reiterated through a spokesperson that this is not yet decided.
The director of the Coordination Center for Health Alerts and Emergencies (CCAES), Fernando Simón, said this Tuesday morning in an interview with Catalunya Ràdio: “It is not certain that the ship will reach the Canary Islands. It flies the Dutch flag and we are still discussing among all involved the possibility that, instead of stopping in the Canary Islands, which is the closest port to Cape Verde, it will go directly [to the Netherlands]. These decisions are being made in these hours, we have a meeting shortly.”
In any case, Simón added, if the ship were to reach Spanish shores it would be without sick people on board, as those with symptoms “would be evacuated by air.” Despite everything, the CCAES director recalled that in the Canary Islands “fortunately there is a high-level treatment unit for patients with risky infections who can receive high-level treatment without risk to professionals or risk of infecting anyone.”
Manuel Domínguez, vice president of the Canary Islands government, also referred to the meeting to be held in the coming hours in an interview on La Radio Canaria, to which the regional government has been summoned. “We will see what we demand from the Canary Islands. The first thing is that if the stop does not have to be in the Canary Islands, then better, because there will surely be other resources on the mainland, but if it is so [the care will be] with all guarantees possible,” he stated.
The WHO published more information last night about the health status of those affected and the evolution of the outbreak. “Seven cases have been identified, including three deaths, one patient in critical condition, and three people with mild symptoms,” the organization’s statement says. Of the seven cases, two have been laboratory confirmed and the other five are considered suspected. Of the three people with symptoms the WHO mentioned last night who remain on board, of Dutch and British nationality, one has already recovered, according to available information.
The other two require “urgent medical attention,” the cruise operator said in a statement this Tuesday at noon. They present “acute respiratory symptoms, one mild and the other severe,” according to the statement.
Regarding the origin of the infection, the WHO considers the most plausible hypothesis that the infections causing the outbreak occurred outside the ship during the South America trip of the first two deceased and that, subsequently, there was person-to-person transmission of the pathogen inside the vessel, although this must be confirmed by ongoing investigations.
“The onset of the disease occurred between April 6 and 28, 2026, and was characterized by fever, gastrointestinal symptoms, rapid progression to pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and shock. Further investigations are underway. The outbreak is being managed through a coordinated international response, including thorough investigations, case isolation and care, medical evacuation, and laboratory investigations,” the WHO continues in the statement.
The Generalitat of Catalonia has reported that five of the 14 Spaniards on board reside in this autonomous community. The released note states that “two of the deceased passengers had traveled through South America before boarding the cruise,” although “the degree of contact of the passengers with local fauna during the trip or before boarding is unknown.” This trip could explain the origin of the outbreak, according to consulted health sources.
Hantavirus is a pathogen typical of rodents that can be transmitted to humans through inhalation of particles from the saliva, feces, and urine of infected animals. Person-to-person transmission has only been demonstrated in one strain of the 24 registered in humans, the so-called Andes Virus. This variant was detected in 1996 in Argentina and is predominant in some areas of the country. In Argentina, the average fatality rate in recent years was around 18.5%.
According to information provided by the WHO, the first case is a man — who had traveled with his partner through South America — who from April 6 began to develop “symptoms of fever, headache, and mild diarrhea” while on board. Five days later, “he developed respiratory difficulty and died on the ship that same day.” Microbiological tests were not performed and the body was transferred from the vessel to the British overseas territory of Saint Helena on April 24.
The second case is his companion, a woman who began to develop gastrointestinal symptoms on the same day, April 24. “Subsequently, her condition deteriorated during a flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, on April 25. She died upon arrival at an emergency service on April 26” and two days later a PCR test confirmed that “the case was a hantavirus infection,” the WHO states. In this case, an investigation has been initiated to trace the contacts of the passengers on the flight to South Africa.
A third case is a man who went to the ship’s doctor on April 24 with fever, difficulty breathing, and signs of pneumonia. Three days later, as his condition worsened, he was evacuated to South Africa, where he is currently hospitalized in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). A PCR test also confirmed hantavirus infection last Saturday.
The so-called “case 4” is a woman with pneumonia who also died on Saturday and who had started symptoms on April 28, mainly fever and general malaise. “Three other suspected cases have reported high fever and/or gastrointestinal symptoms and remain on board,” the WHO states, adding that “doctors in Cape Verde are evaluating the patients and collecting additional samples for testing.”
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