Last passengers leave virus-hit cruise ship as three more test positive

Authored by bbc.co.uk and submitted by Alternative-Win4058

Spain's health ministry said one Spaniard who is quarantining in Madrid after being evacuated from the vessel had also provisionally tested positive for hantavirus on Monday.

On Monday, the US health department said a second American national on Sunday's repatriation flight had also shown mild symptoms, adding that both passengers had travelled back in "biocontainment units out of an abundance of caution".

French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said a woman was isolating in Paris and that her health was deteriorating, with 22 contacts traced.

Two British nationals with confirmed cases are currently being treated in the Netherlands and South Africa.

Hantaviruses are usually carried by rodents, but human transmission of the Andes strain - which the WHO believes some of the ship's passengers contracted in South America - is possible.

Symptoms can include fever, extreme fatigue, muscle aches, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and shortness of breath.

Officials say the risk of a major outbreak is very low.

As of Monday evening, the ship's operator Oceanwide Expeditions said 27 people remain on board the ship, including 25 crew members and two medical staff.

These include 17 people from the Philippines, four from the Netherlands (including the two medical staff), four from Ukraine, one from Russia and one from Poland.

Ukraine's foreign ministry said the Ukrainians on board would help with the ships transfer to the Netherlands and would quarantine at a medical facility on arrival. It added that they had shown no signs of illness.

I_Am_Zampano on May 11st, 2026 at 13:44 UTC »

That US citizen was transported to Nebraska to file bankruptcy

maxallergy on May 11st, 2026 at 13:08 UTC »

We really keep on making the worst decisions huh I fucking hope they are right about it not being as contagious, because we wasted an opportunity to just have the lot of thel quarantined on the ship

careful__now__ on May 11st, 2026 at 13:00 UTC »

Gosh these last 20 years have been so exhausting