Cape Town, South Africa — Updated on: May 4, 2026 / 6:00 AM EDT / CBS/AP
A suspected outbreak of the rare hantavirus on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean killed three people, including an elderly married couple, and sickened at least three others, the World Health Organization and South Africa’s Department of Health said Sunday.
WHO said an investigation was underway and at least one case of hantavirus had been confirmed. One patient was in intensive care in a South African hospital, and the U.N. health agency said it was working with authorities to evacuate two others with symptoms from the ship.
The Dutch foreign ministry told AFP it was exploring options to medically evacuate people from the ship and would coordinate such moves if possible. The ship’s operator said the vessel was off the coast of Cape Verde and local authorities were assisting but had not allowed disembarkation. The operator said the two people aboard needing urgent care were crew members.
WHO Regional Director for Europe Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge said the risk to the wider public remains low and there is no need for panic or travel restrictions.
Hantaviruses are spread mainly by contact with urine or feces of infected rodents such as rats and mice. They can cause two serious syndromes: hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which affects the lungs, and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, which affects the kidneys. WHO said hantavirus infections can, while rare, be spread between people. There is no specific treatment, but early medical attention can improve chances of survival. WHO said it was conducting laboratory testing, sequencing and epidemiological investigations and providing medical support to passengers and crew.
South Africa’s Department of Health said the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius left Argentina about three weeks ago on a cruise that visited Antarctica, the Falkland Islands and other stops and was headed for Spain’s Canary Islands. The department said the first victim was a 70-year-old man who died on the ship; his body was removed at the British territory of Saint Helena. His wife collapsed at an airport in South Africa while trying to fly to the Netherlands and died at a nearby hospital. A Dutch foreign ministry spokesperson confirmed two Dutch passengers had died.
The patient in intensive care in Johannesburg was identified as a British national who fell ill near Ascension Island and was transferred from there to South Africa. Around 150 tourists were onboard at the time; the ship typically sails with about 70 crew members.
Oceanwide Expeditions, which runs the cruise, said a third victim’s body remained onboard in Cape Verde and that its priority was ensuring the two symptomatic crew members received medical care. Local health authorities visited the vessel to assess the two symptomatic individuals but had not decided on transferring them to medical care in Cape Verde.
WHO said it was working with national authorities and the ship’s operators on a full public health risk assessment and to support those still onboard. South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases was conducting contact tracing in the Johannesburg region to identify any exposures.
The cruise ship MV Hondius is seen off the port of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, on May 3, 2026. AFP via Getty Images