Three deaths, eight infected, a ship in the middle of the Atlantic with 147 people on board (we had already talked about it in this article) and now the confirmation that changes the picture: the hantavirus outbreak that broke out on the MV Hondius, a cruise ship flying the Dutch flag, is caused by the Andes strain, the most virulent of the 24 known in humans, and the only one capable of transmitting from person to person.
This was confirmed by the South African Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization, after analyzing samples taken from some passengers evacuated and transferred by plane to South Africa. The confirmation arrived in these hours and has redesigned the management of the emergency.
The Andes strain: what it is and why it’s a concern
Of the more than twenty-four strains of hantavirus identified in humans, only one is capable of transmitting between people and it is the Andes virus, widespread mainly in South America and in particular in Argentina and Chile. The WHO documented this in its official bulletin, specifying that although human-to-human transmission is rare, it has been confirmed in previous outbreaks. The contagion would occur through the respiratory route, through close contact.
The strain can cause Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which means fever, gastrointestinal symptoms, rapid progression to pneumonia and acute respiratory distress. The mortality rate for this form can reach almost 40%. The first symptoms, i.e. fever, muscle pain and tiredness, appear between one and eight weeks after infection, which makes tracing particularly complex.
The epidemiologist Massimo Ciccozzi, interviewed by LaPresse, underlined the need for an in-depth genetic analysis, given that to establish whether there has been human-to-human transmission it is necessary to understand whether those infected following “patient zero” had close contact with him or with the other cases who had already died. Without this reconstruction, the isolation of the strain alone is not enough to explain the chain of contagion.
The ship, the journey, the outbreak
The MV Hondius departed Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1, 2026 for a South Atlantic itinerary that included Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, Tristan da Cunha Island and St. Helena, with a final destination in the Canary Islands.
On 2 May, WHO received notification from the UK focal point of a cluster of severe respiratory disease on board, with two deaths and one passenger in critical condition. In the following hours, the confirmed and/or suspected cases rose to eight, including three deaths: two Dutch citizens and a German. A British citizen is hospitalized in intensive care in South Africa, in Switzerland a man (former passenger of the ship) spontaneously presented himself to a hospital in Zurich after receiving communication from the cruise operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, and tested positive. In France, health authorities have identified a contact case: a French citizen who had shared a flight with one of the infected people before hospitalization.
The clash over the landing in the Canary Islands
The WHO and the Spanish government have agreed that the ship will be allowed to dock at the port of Granadilla on the island of Tenerife after a team of epidemiologists carries out an inspection on board. This is because Cape Verde, where the Hondius was anchored, does not have the necessary facilities to manage the evacuation.
The decision aroused harsh opposition from the president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, who spoke of “institutional disloyalty” towards the central government and declared that he could not “allow the ship to enter the Canary Islands” without sufficient technical guarantees. The Ministry of Health clarified that the disembarkation operations will take place according to a protocol agreed with WHO and ECDC, with isolation of passengers, no contact with the local population and protection of healthcare personnel. Three passengers with suspected infection have already been evacuated and are headed to the Netherlands. Meanwhile, the director general of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, thanked the Spanish government with a formal letter to Prime Minister Sánchez, inviting him to avoid restrictions without health justification. The risk for the general population, the Geneva Agency specified, remains low at the moment.
