A Spanish passenger evacuated from the cruise ship MV Hondius and kept in quarantine at a Madrid military hospital has tested positive for hantavirus, Spain’s Health Ministry announced.
The diagnosis marks the second positive case among 14 Spanish nationals who were flown to the Spanish island of Tenerife after leaving the luxury liner earlier this month.
MV Hondius had been carrying about 150 passengers and crew representing 23 countries when a cluster of severe respiratory illnesses was first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) on 2 May.
Spain’s Health Ministry said on X that, once the infection was confirmed, the patient was transferred to an isolation unit at Gómez Ulla Hospital.
Officials stressed that identifying the case among people already quarantined “does not modify the risk situation” for the general population.
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The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius departed Ushuaia, Argentina, on 1 April, sailing through remote islands in the South Atlantic Ocean before continuing north to Cape Verde and then on to Tenerife.
The WHO said on Saturday that 12 suspected and confirmed cases have been reported to the agency, including three deaths, and that no deaths have been reported since 2 May.
Hantavirus, a rare infection spread by rodents, has no vaccines or specific treatments.
