MV Hondius cruise ship quarantine ends after hantavirus outbreak

The World Health Organization announced that quarantine for passengers and crew of the Dutch‑flagged cruise ship MV Hondius has been lifted after a hantavirus outbreak that began in May. The outbreak, which occurred during a polar itinerary that stopped in Argentina, the Cape Verde islands and Tenerife before docking in Rotterdam, caused three deaths and infected thirteen people.

In France, four of five French passengers repatriated on 10 May left isolation on Sunday after 42 days; a fifth French passenger remains in intensive care in a stable condition. The patients were housed in negative‑pressure rooms at Paris’s Bichat Hospital and underwent PCR tests every three days. French health officials reported “She is getting better.”

WHO Director‑General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said no new cases or deaths have been recorded since early May and described the situation as “stable”. The MV Hondius was disinfected in the Netherlands and received permission to resume sailing on 30 May.