Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship arrives at Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands
May 9, 2026, 11:08 PM | Updated: May 10, 2026, 9:38 pm
The hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius is seen at anchor after arriving at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
TENERIFE, Spain (AP) — A hantavirus-stricken cruise ship with more than 140 people on board has arrived at Tenerife, the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands,off the coast of West Africa, where the passengers and some of the crew are to disembark.
The World Health Organization, Spanish authorities and cruise company Oceanwide Expeditions have said that nobody on board the MV Hondius is currently showing symptoms of the virus. Three people have died since the outbreak, and five passengers who left the ship are infected with hantavirus, which can cause life-threatening illness.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, along with Spain’s health and interior ministers, were to be supervising the evacuation of the ship. Authorities have said the passengers and crew members who will disembark will have no contact with the local population, and will only be taken off the ship once evacuation flights are ready to fly them to their destinations.
