Almost all Hondius cruise ship passengers and crew cleared from quarantine after deadly hantavirus outbreak

Outbreak and casualties

In April, hantavirus broke out aboard the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius during a polar expedition cruise that departed Ushuaia, Argentina on 1 April. The vessel carried around 150 passengers from 23 countries. Health authorities later confirmed 12 cases and one probable case of the Andes strain of hantavirus, the only variant known to transmit occasionally between humans. Three people died from the infection: a Dutch couple and a German passenger. No new cases or deaths have been reported since 2 May.

Quarantine and international response

After the outbreak, the ship diverted to Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands, where most passengers were evacuated under special safety protocols. The Hondius then docked in Rotterdam on 18 May with a skeleton crew, who faced weeks of quarantine. Passengers and crew from multiple countries, including the Netherlands, Ireland, Canada, France, and Spain, also underwent isolation in their home countries. On Thursday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced that almost all those quarantined in the Netherlands were now allowed to return home, including non-nationals.

With no new cases reported nor deaths reported since May 2, the situation remains stable.

German contacts completing isolation

German health authorities confirmed that the last quarantined individuals will be released in the coming days. A person from the Heilbronn region will exit isolation by the weekend, while a contact from Mittelsachsen also expects to finish quarantine shortly. In Bavaria, one of two close contacts has already left quarantine, and the second should be released by Saturday. Berlin officials said a monitored contact is likewise nearing the end of the isolation period. These timelines align with the WHO's recommendation to maintain surveillance until 21 June.

Origin and investigation

Despite extensive efforts, the exact location of the passengers' exposure remains unknown. The Hondius set sail from Ushuaia on 1 April, and Argentine health authorities, including the Malbrán research institute, deployed rodent traps in the area. They found no specimens of the long-tailed pygmy rice rat (Oligoryzomys longicaudatus), the primary reservoir of the Andes virus. Similar searches in Mendoza province also yielded no suspect rodents. Health officials note that the Dutch couple who died had traveled across Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay before embarking, but the source of the infection has not been identified.

Ship recovery and island alert lifted

The Hondius underwent thorough cleaning and disinfection and was cleared to resume operations on 30 May; it has since departed on a new expedition. On 8 June, the remote British island of St Helena, where many passengers had disembarked, ended its major incident declaration. The island's government confirmed that all identified contacts had successfully completed their mandatory 42-day isolation periods and that no further risk to the public remains.