A Canadian passenger from the cruise ship MV Hondius has tested “presumptive positive” for Andes hantavirus, prompting health officials to intensify monitoring while stressing that the broader public risk remains low. Canadian public health authorities said the patient was among four Canadians identified as high risk after travelling on the vessel, which departed Argentina on 1 April for an Atlantic crossing before the outbreak of the rare rodent-borne disease came to light. In a statement, the Public Health Agency of Canada…

A rare disease outbreak aboard the MV Hondius has reached Canada, where public health officials say a "high risk" passenger from the cruise ship has tested "presumptive positive" for the Andes hantavirus. The patient was among four Canadians on the hantavirus-affected vessel, which departed Argentina on 1 April and was crossing the Atlantic Ocean when the outbreak of the uncommon rodent-borne illness emerged. In a statement, the Public Health Agency of Canada said authorities in British Columbia, the country’s westernmost…

French authorities have placed more than 1,700 passengers and crew under confinement on a cruise ship in Bordeaux after an elderly traveler died, officials said, while stressing the incident was not tied to the hantavirus alarm. Dozens of people aboard the Ambition also reported stomach troubles. The vessel, carrying 1,233 passengers — most of them from Ireland and Britain — arrived in the western French port of Bordeaux yesterday with 514 Indian crew members on board. Health officials said the situation bore no link to the…

The final two evacuation flights carrying passengers and crew from the hantavirus-stricken MV Hondius have landed in the Netherlands, AFP reported. On board the two aircraft were 28 people evacuated from the vessel, the Dutch foreign ministry said, including passengers, crew members and medical personnel. The first flight brought in six former Hondius guests: four Australians, one New Zealander and one British national living in Australia. Those six are expected to remain at a quarantine facility near the airport before…

A French woman who was aboard a cruise ship struck by a hantavirus outbreak has tested positive for the virus and her health is worsening, French Health Minister Stephanie Rist said. The woman was one of five French nationals on the vessel who have since returned to Paris. The other four passengers tested negative, though they will be tested again, Ms Rist told France Inter radio. She added that French authorities have so far identified 22 contact cases. In the United States, health officials said one of 17 American citizens…

Live Cruise ship begins evacuating its first passengers after virus outbreak World

A deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard a luxury expedition cruise in the Atlantic has triggered a global health response, but the World Health Organization says the episode does not signal the start of a new Covid-style emergency. "This is not the start of an epidemic. This is not the start of a pandemic," WHO epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention director Maria Van Kerkhove told reporters, insisting: "This is not Covid." The WHO said it expects the outbreak to remain "limited" provided countries enforce public…

A luxury cruise ship at the centre of a fatal hantavirus outbreak is heading for Tenerife, where Spanish authorities say passengers are expected to begin disembarking from 11 May. The vessel, which had been stranded off the coast of Cape Verde since Sunday, has now set course for Spain, according to a Reuters witness. Its departure came after three people were evacuated, including two who were seriously ill. The MV Hondius, carrying nearly 150 people, is due to reach Tenerife within three days, Spain's health minister said.…

A possible case of human-to-human transmission may be unfolding among close contacts aboard the cruise ship at the center of a hantavirus outbreak, the World Health Organization has said, as officials work to move the most serious cases off the vessel and bring the situation under control. The agency said the immediate priority was evacuating ⁠two sick people before allowing the ship, ⁠currently ‌stationed in the Atlantic near Cape Verde, to continue ⁠toward the Canary Islands. ⁠It said the risk to the wider public remained…

An unfolding health emergency aboard a cruise ship off Cape Verde has drawn international concern, with two Irish passengers among 149 people on board after a case of hantavirus was confirmed. Oceanwide Expeditions, the vessel’s operator, said the MV Hondius is carrying 149 people from 23 nationalities and remains in what it described as “a serious medical situation”. The company said strict precautions are being enforced on board, including isolation procedures, hygiene measures and ongoing medical monitoring. A…