U.S. Organizing Evacuation Flight for Americans on Hantavirus-Affected Ship

The U.S. State Department announced on May 9, 2026, it is organizing a repatriation flight to bring American passengers back from the MV Hondius, a cruise ship affected by a hantavirus outbreak, after it arrives in Tenerife, Spain. Officials are coordinating with the Spanish government and multiple U.S. agencies, including the CDC, to facilitate the evacuation and medical screening of U.S. citizens.

Three passengers — a Dutch couple and a German woman — have died from the virus, and several others are ill. The Andes virus strain, the only known hantavirus capable of person-to-person transmission, has been identified among infected individuals, prompting heightened containment measures. The ship, which previously stopped at Saint Helena on April 24, is carrying 17 known American passengers.

Evacuated U.S. citizens will be flown to Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska and transferred to the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Health authorities confirmed that all individuals currently under monitoring are asymptomatic. The CDC stated the risk to the general U.S. public remains extremely low.

Nebraska Medicine and the University of Nebraska Medical Center will manage quarantine operations with federal support. The World Health Organization has confirmed that nationals from 12 countries, including the U.S., have already disembarked at Saint Helena. U.S. health officials will reassess the situation following the passengers' arrival in Nebraska.