Five cases from cruise ship confirmed as hantavirus, three suspected

The World Health Organization has confirmed five cases of hantavirus linked to a cruise ship outbreak, with several additional suspected infections still under investigation. Officials say the overall public health risk remains low but caution that more cases may emerge due to the virus’s incubation period.

Jennifer Rigby/Reuters

7 May 2026 at 13:39:29

Five cases from cruise ship confirmed as hantavirus, three suspected

Exterior of the Radboud University Medical Center, where a patient receives treatment after being evacuated from the luxury cruise ship MV Hondius following a deadly hantavirus outbreak, in Nijmegen, Netherlands, May 7, 2026.

Omar Havana/Reuters

Five of the eight suspected cases of hantavirus linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship have now been confirmed, the World Health Organization said at a press briefing on Thursday.

The wider public health threat from the outbreak remained low, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, adding that the WHO was aware of reports of other patients and there may be more cases due to the long incubation period of the virus.

-Reporting by Jennifer Rigby; Editing by Alex Richardson/Reuters