Hantavirus Cases Rise Among Cruise Ship Passengers as Countries Expand Quarantine Measures

U.S. officials confirmed one asymptomatic positive case among repatriated U.S. passengers.

A test tube labeled "Hantavirus positive" is held in this illustration taken on May 7, 2026. Dado Ruvic/Reuters

Health officials in several countries are expanding quarantine and monitoring measures after additional passengers from a cruise ship linked to a hantavirus outbreak tested positive or developed symptoms, as governments continue repatriation operations from the Canary Islands.

A French woman hospitalized in Paris tested positive for hantavirus after being evacuated from the Dutch-flagged cruise ship MV Hondius, French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said in a May 11 interview with France Inter.