Early Sunday morning, the Dutch-flagged cruise ship MV Hondius, anchored off Spain's Canary Islands, began evacuating passengers after a deadly hantavirus outbreak triggered a multinational public health response and put global health authorities on red alert.
"The docking took place at 6:30 a.m. and has been a success in spite of all the adversities," Health Minister Mónica García said in a statement quoted by Bloomberg News.
Health officials have found that "all passengers are asymptomatic," García added.
The U.S. government is evacuating American passengers from a cruise ship tied to a deadly hantavirus outbreak. A CDC team is currently in the Canary Islands assessing potential exposure and monitoring needs.
Passengers will be flown back to the U.S. on a medical repatriation… pic.twitter.com/CSrpbpMXLR
Ship-tracking data show that the Hondius was anchored in Granadilla Port, Tenerife, and has since docked.
Last week, the World Health Organization identified eight hantavirus cases linked to the cruise ship: five suspected and three confirmed by laboratory testing. This includes three deaths. There were 149 passengers and crew members on the ship before the evacuation.
The outbreak appears to have started after a Dutch man and his wife traveled in South America, then boarded the Hondius in Argentina on April 1. Both died weeks later.
The New York Post identified patient zero as ornithologist Leo Schilperoord, who was on a multi-month birdwatching trip in South America with his wife, Mirjam Schilperoord. Both died.
Hantavirus is typically spread through rodent droppings or contaminated dust. People can inhale contaminated particles when rodent waste is disturbed. Symptoms may take weeks to appear, making containment and monitoring difficult.
On Friday, President Trump was questioned by reporters about the virus-plagued cruise ship. He said the situation is "very much under control."
Polymarket odds of a hantavirus pandemic have remained under 10% for the last several days.
//--> //--> Hantavirus pandemic in 2026?We questioned at the end of last week whether the vaccine stock trade was back, with Moderna conveniently announcing it was working on a vaccine.
The story count for "pandemic" in Bloomberg news stories remains well below the highs of the Covid-era mass hysteria driven by corporate media.
Will WHO create mass hysteria? That is the question.
Tyler Durden Sun, 05/10/2026 - 12:50