French Woman Evacuated from MV Hondius in Critical Condition
A French woman who was evacuated from the MV Hondius ship with no initial symptoms is now in a ‘serious condition’ due to hantavirus, according to the French government. Her health rapidly declined after she was repatriated to France on Sunday.
The woman was among five French passengers who were brought back to France from Tenerife. French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist stated that the woman started feeling unwell during the flight and tested positive for the virus. Unfortunately, her condition worsened overnight.
Meanwhile, some passengers on their way to repatriation flights were seen with their masks off or lowered below their mouth while on the bus. This raised concerns about safety protocols during the evacuation process.
Over 90 passengers and crew members of the Hondius were sent home on Sunday, with the remaining 24 guests set to be evacuated on Monday afternoon. All of the passengers were escorted from the ship to shore by personnel wearing full-body protective gear and breathing masks.
This situation has prompted the World Health Organisation (WHO) to downplay hantavirus fears, despite two symptomless passengers who were evacuated from the MV Hondius later testing positive for the disease. The French woman and an American both tested positive, but the WHO has not included the American in their updated figures.
Hantavirus Outbreak and International Response
Seven cases of the Andes hantavirus have now been confirmed among people who were passengers on board the cruise ship, the WHO said on Monday. Despite reports from the US Department of Health and Human Services on Sunday that one of the 17 repatriated Americans tested mildly positive for the lethal Andes strain of hantavirus, the WHO and Spanish Government disregarded these findings.
The Spanish Health Ministry explained that the US citizen’s tests in Cape Verde gave a result considered by the Americans as a ‘weak positive’, which they deemed not conclusive. Another test was negative, leading the ministry to conclude that the person did not show symptoms when they were in Cape Verde.
This brings the number of confirmed cases to seven, including a Dutch woman and a German woman who died, a Briton hospitalised in South Africa, a Briton hospitalised in the Netherlands, a Dutch man also in the Netherlands, and a Swiss national.
Spain insisted it took ‘all measures’ to prevent hantavirus spreading from evacuees on the cruise ship hit by the virus who left the Canary Islands. The health ministry stated that all measures adopted aimed at cutting the possible chains of transmission and preventing further spread.
Evacuation Efforts and Quarantine Measures
In the UK, 20 Britons have arrived at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside where they will begin 45 days of self-isolation after landing in Manchester on a chartered Titan Airways flight from Tenerife. Meanwhile, one contact case is isolating on British territory of Pitcairn – the territory with the lowest population in the world with just 35 inhabitants.
The government of French Polynesia announced that a contact of Hantavirus passed through Tahiti and then Mangareva on May 7, 2026, without the authorities of the Country and the State being informed. The person in question is not showing any symptoms and is currently isolated in quarantine on Pitcairn.
On Monday, the 17 American nationals arrived at the University of Nebraska Medical Centre, which has a federally funded quarantine facility. Medics will assess whether they have been in close contact with any symptomatic people and their risk levels for spreading the virus.
One of the American passengers tested positive for the hantavirus but is not showing any symptoms, while another has minor symptoms. A passenger will be transported to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit upon arrival, while other passengers will go to the National Quarantine Unit for assessment and monitoring.
Global Impact and Public Health Measures
In France, 22 people have been identified as contact cases after being exposed to someone who later died of the virus. They included eight people who had travelled on an April 25 flight between Saint Helena and Johannesburg, and 14 more on a flight between Johannesburg and Amsterdam.
WHO recommended close monitoring of the former passengers, and many countries quarantined them. The 20 Britons will spend 72 hours at Arrowe Park Hospital before being asked to self-isolate for a further 42 days at home. Strict infection control measures were in place throughout the journey to the hospital, with passengers, crew, drivers and medical teams all wearing PPE.
Three people have died since the outbreak began – a Dutch couple and a German national – and five people who left the ship earlier were infected. A British national who was previously hospitalised with hantavirus in South Africa after falling ill on the cruise is ‘clinically improving’, a health ministry spokesperson said.
