Two patients with hantavirus symptoms and a person who was in close contact with a passenger who died on May 2, 2026 will be evacuated to the Netherlands from Cape Verde, off whose coast the cruise ship they were traveling on is anchored, the shipping company that owns the ship indicated on Tuesday, May 5, 2026.
The medical evacuation “will be carried out by two specialized aircraft,” Dutch tour operator Oceanwide Expeditions said in a statement. “At the moment, we do not have an exact schedule,” he added.
Three dead from disease caused by rodents
The shipping company indicated that once these people are heading to their destination, their plan is to head to the Spanish archipelago of the Canary Islands, a journey of about three days of navigation, for which they are holding talks with the authorities.
The MV Hondius, which covered the route between Ushuaia (Argentina) and Cape Verde with 88 passengers and 59 crew members of 23 nationalities, remains on health alert due to the suspicion of an outbreak of hantavirus, a disease that is generally transmitted by infected rodents, normally through urine, feces and saliva, and which has already caused three deaths on board the cruise ship. (AFP/DPA/EFE)
