Health authorities around the world are scrambling to trace passengers from a luxury Antarctic expedition cruise ship after a deadly hantavirus outbreak was detected on board. The Dutch vessel MV Hondius, carrying roughly 150 passengers and crew members from 28 countries, became the site of the first known hantavirus transmission on a boat, according to the World Health Organization.

As of May 9, 2026, five cases have been confirmed and three people have died. The outbreak involves the Andes strain of hantavirus, which is transmitted through close, intimate contact rather than typical airborne routes. The WHO has emphasized that this outbreak is not comparable to the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, since the virus does not spread easily among the general public.

The ship departed from Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1 and stopped at the remote Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha on April 13. On April 24, thirty-two guests disembarked at St Helena before the first confirmed case was reported on May 4. The vessel is now expected to arrive in Spain's Canary Islands on May 10.

Officials in at least 12 nations — including Canada, Germany, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States — are currently monitoring citizens who were aboard or who came into close contact with former passengers. The WHO has warned that, given the virus's incubation period of up to six weeks, further cases may still emerge in the coming weeks.

One British passenger, 56-year-old retired police officer Martin Anstee, was medically evacuated to the Netherlands and remains in stable condition. Health experts note that the outbreak response has been challenging due to the global spread of passengers across dozens of countries, making coordinated containment unusually difficult.