Cruise Ship Stranded as Hantavirus Outbreak Triggers Evacuation Over Possible Human Transmission

A hantavirus outbreak aboard the Hondius cruise ship off Cape Verde has killed at least three people, with two lab-confirmed and five suspected cases; the WHO warns of rare human-to-human transmission among close contacts and notes testing points to the Andes variant. Two crew members—one British and one Dutch—will be airlifted to the Netherlands for urgent care, after which the ship hopes to head toward the Canary Islands for medical screening and repatriation. Cape Verde refused docking, leaving the vessel largely stranded as authorities conduct contact tracing and medical screenings for about 150 passengers and 59 crew.