This is not another COVID. The risk remains low.
A Dutch cruise ship carrying the shadow of three deaths and five confirmed hantavirus infections approached the shores of Tenerife in early May 2026, prompting WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to travel to the island and speak directly to a community still carrying the wounds of 2020. The virus in question — spread through rodent droppings, not breath or touch — is not COVID, and authorities were careful to say so. Yet the protocols assembled around the MV Hondius told a quieter story: that in the aftermath of a pandemic, no outbreak arrives without memory, and no reassurance is complete without action.
- Three passengers are dead and five more infected aboard the MV Hondius, a Dutch cruise ship now sailing toward Tenerife with over 140 people on board.
- Residents of Tenerife, still marked by the trauma of 2020, openly resisted the ship's arrival — and some passengers aboard feared what kind of welcome awaited them on land.
- The deeper alarm lies in the past: more than two dozen passengers disembarked on April 24 without screening, scattering across at least twelve countries before hantavirus was even confirmed on May 2.
- A flight attendant on a KLM route from Johannesburg fell ill after working a flight that carried one of those early disembarkers — she tested negative, but the question of person-to-person spread had already been raised.
- Authorities are responding with layered protocols: medical screening before disembarkation, evacuation planes on standby, six-week home quarantine for the asymptomatic, and a medical aircraft positioned for high-consequence infectious disease response.
- WHO and Spanish ministers arrived in Tenerife to hold the line between legitimate caution and collective panic, insisting the public health risk remains low while leaving nothing to chance.
On a Saturday in early May, the MV Hondius — a Dutch-flagged cruise ship with more than 140 passengers and crew — was making its way toward Tenerife, and the island was bracing. Three people aboard had already died. Five more were confirmed infected with hantavirus. And somewhere across four continents, more than two dozen passengers who had walked off the ship weeks earlier were going about their lives, unaware they were being searched for.
The fear in Tenerife was not abstract. Residents had lived through 2020, and when they heard the word "outbreak" and saw a ship approaching their coast, that year came rushing back. Some said openly they did not want the Hondius to dock. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus flew to the island to meet that fear directly. He acknowledged the pain of 2020 without dismissing it, then drew a clear distinction: "This is not another COVID." Hantavirus spreads through contaminated rodent droppings, not easily between people. The strain aboard — the Andes virus — could spread person-to-person in rare cases, but no one on board was symptomatic. Spain's Health Minister and Interior Minister were also en route to oversee the disembarkation.
The protocols in place reflected the seriousness with which authorities were treating even a low-risk scenario. Every passenger would be medically screened before leaving the ship. No one could disembark unless a flight was already waiting to carry them off the island. Spanish passengers — thirteen in total — would be quarantined in a medical facility. Crew members and the body of a deceased passenger would remain aboard as the ship continued to the Netherlands for disinfection. The United States, United Kingdom, and Netherlands had all arranged evacuation aircraft, including a medical plane equipped for high-consequence infectious disease, ready to deploy if anyone fell ill after leaving.
The harder problem was what had already happened. On April 24 — nearly two weeks after the first death aboard — more than two dozen passengers from at least twelve countries had disembarked without any contact tracing. Hantavirus wasn't confirmed until May 2. By then, those travelers were spread across continents. One Dutch woman, too ill to complete a KLM flight from Johannesburg to Amsterdam, had been removed from the plane. A flight attendant on that route later fell ill — she tested negative, but the concern had already taken root. Health authorities were now tracing a chain of contacts that crossed oceans and borders, growing harder to follow with every day that passed.
The MV Hondius, a Dutch-flagged cruise ship carrying more than 140 passengers and crew, was approaching the Canary Islands on a Saturday in early May, and the island of Tenerife braced for its arrival. Three people had already died. Five more passengers carried the virus. And across four continents, health authorities were scrambling to find and monitor more than two dozen people who had walked off the ship weeks earlier, before anyone knew what was spreading through its corridors.
The fear in Tenerife was real and recent. The island's residents had lived through 2020. When they heard the word "outbreak" and saw a ship sailing toward their shores, the memory of that year—the lockdowns, the uncertainty, the deaths—surfaced all at once. Some residents said openly they did not want the Hondius to dock. Some of the Spanish passengers aboard worried about how they would be received once they stepped onto land.
On Saturday, the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus traveled to Tenerife to meet those fears head-on. He spoke directly to the island's residents, acknowledging their anxiety without dismissing it. "I know you are worried," he said. "The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment." But then he drew a line. "This is not another COVID," he said. "The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low." Spain's Health Minister Monica Garcia and Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska were also heading to the island to oversee the disembarkation.
Hantavirus spreads through the inhalation of contaminated rodent droppings. It is not easily transmitted between people. The strain detected on the Hondius—the Andes virus—could spread person-to-person in rare cases, but as of Saturday, nobody on board was showing symptoms. The WHO, Spanish authorities, and the cruise company Oceanwide all confirmed this. The risk to the Canary Islands and the world remained low, Tedros said on social media. But the protocols being put in place suggested the authorities were taking no chances.
Every passenger and crew member disembarking would be medically screened first. No one would leave the ship unless a flight was already waiting in Tenerife to carry them away from the island. They could bring almost nothing—no luggage, only a small bag with essentials, a phone, a charger, and documents. All Spanish passengers, of which there were thirteen, would be transferred to a medical facility and quarantined. Some crew members and the body of a passenger who had died aboard would remain on the ship as it sailed for the Netherlands, where it would be disinfected.
The United States and the United Kingdom had both agreed to send evacuation planes. The Netherlands activated the European Union's civil protection mechanism, positioning a medical evacuation aircraft equipped for high-consequence infectious disease on standby. If anyone fell ill after disembarkation, the plane would be sent immediately to transport them to the European mainland. Those without symptoms would go into home quarantine for six weeks, monitored by local health services.
But the real challenge lay in the past. On April 24, nearly two weeks after the first passenger had died aboard the ship, more than two dozen people from at least twelve different countries had disembarked without contact tracing. It wasn't until May 2—eight days later—that health authorities confirmed hantavirus in a passenger. By then, those travelers were scattered across continents. One Dutch woman, too ill to continue on a KLM flight from Johannesburg to Amsterdam on April 25, had been taken off the plane. A flight attendant who worked that flight later fell ill, raising immediate concerns about the virus's ability to spread. The attendant tested negative, but the question had been asked and could not be unasked. Health authorities were now racing to find everyone who had been near everyone who had left the ship, a chain of contact that stretched across oceans and borders, growing more difficult to trace with each passing day.
Citas Notables
This is not another COVID. The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low.— WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
I know you are worried. The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment.— WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, addressing Tenerife residents
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why did it take so long to identify the virus? The first person died weeks before anyone confirmed hantavirus.
The ship's operator and Dutch officials didn't immediately recognize what they were dealing with. By the time they did, more than two dozen passengers had already left without any contact tracing at all. That's the real vulnerability—not the virus itself, but the gap between when it was spreading and when anyone knew to look for it.
The WHO Director-General spoke directly to residents' fears about COVID. Was that necessary, or was it patronizing?
It was necessary. People in Tenerife had lived through something traumatic. They weren't being irrational by worrying. Tedros acknowledged that—he didn't tell them their fear was stupid. He just drew a distinction: this virus spreads differently, the risk is lower, and we have protocols. That's not patronizing. That's respect.
But hantavirus can spread person-to-person in rare cases. How rare?
Rare enough that the WHO still calls the risk low. But rare enough that they're taking it seriously—evacuation planes on standby, strict screening, six-week quarantines. They're not gambling. They're just being honest that this isn't a repeat of 2020.
What about the people who got off the ship on April 24? Are they all being found?
That's the part that keeps authorities up at night. More than two dozen people from twelve countries scattered across four continents. Some have been located and monitored. But the longer the chain gets, the harder it is to close. That's why the contact tracing is so urgent.
If the risk is truly low, why all the elaborate protocols?
Because low risk with high consequence demands precaution. Three people are already dead. The protocols aren't about panic—they're about making sure those three are the end of it, not the beginning.