Published on: 06/05/2026 - 12:07 Modified on: 06/05/2026 - 22:24

A medical plane carrying a passenger from the cruise ship affected by the hantavirus arrived in Amsterdam in the Netherlands on Wednesday. Two other patients are expected, their transfer having been delayed by a technical fault in the device which evacuated them. The MV Hondius is expected to dock in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, on Saturday, despite opposition from the regional government. Here is the thread for May 6, 2026.

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Hantavirus: a contact case evacuated to be hospitalized in Germany

A person evacuated from the cruise ship MV Hondius, a source of hantavirus, was transported from the Netherlands on Wednesday by German emergency services to be hospitalized in Germany, firefighters said in a press release, referring to an "asymptomatic contact" case.

The nationality and gender of the contact case were not specified by the authorities.

According to a spokesperson for the Düsseldorf firefighters, treatment of the patient began around 6 p.m. GMT near Amsterdam, to be transported to the university hospital of this city located in western Germany.

A new plane needed for the evacuation of two patients from the Canaries

Two patients evacuated from the cruise ship affected by a deadly hantavirus epidemic, whose plane to Amsterdam landed in the Canary Islands, will have to change planes to continue their journey due to a technical failure, the Spanish Ministry of Health announced.

After arriving in Gran Canaria to refuel, the doctor on the plane "reported a failure in the electrical support system" of a patient, sources at the Health Ministry said. “Consequently, the patient remains on board the plane, connected to the airport power supply, while awaiting the arrival of a new device to continue their journey,” they added.

A plane with a patient on board landed in the Netherlands

A plane on board with at least one passenger from the cruise ship affected by the hantavirus has arrived in Amsterdam, AFP noted, after an emergency evacuation of this boat off the coast of Cape Verde. The medical plane which took off from Praia landed at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol at 7:47 p.m. (17:47 GMT). Flight tracking website Flightradar24 also reported that the plane had landed.

“Many uncertainties remain” about the hantavirus epidemic, says EU health agency

“Many uncertainties remain” about the hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship, said the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), an EU agency, which calls for caution.

“Many uncertainties still remain regarding this hantavirus outbreak and it is important, at this stage, to adopt a precautionary approach to reduce the likelihood of further transmissions,” ECDC Director Pamela Rendi-Wagner said in a statement.

The ship MV Hondius has left Cape Verde and is heading towards the Canary Islands

A cruise ship suspected of being a source of hantavirus has left its anchorage area off Cape Verde, heading towards Tenerife in the Spanish Canary archipelago, where it is due to dock in the coming days, an AFP correspondent noted.

The MV Hondius, which was immobilized off the port of the Cape Verdean capital Praia since Sunday, will dock "within three days" at the port of Granadilla on the island of Tenerife, announced Spanish Minister of Health Mónica García Gómez. The maritime tracking site Marine Traffic indicated Wednesday evening that the boat was “under navigation”.

A medical plane carrying patients evacuated from the boat earlier was also on its way to the Netherlands and another landed in the Canaries.

The medical plane landed in the Canaries to repair a patient's "protective bubble"

The medical plane carrying two people affected by the hantavirus from Cape Verde and which landed in the Canaries this afternoon is making "a technical stopover" to repair the "defective protective bubble of a patient", a source within the Canary Islands regional government announced to AFP.

“No one will get off or board” the plane which will then continue its “planned route” to the Netherlands, detailed this source, specifying that Morocco had “refused” that the machine land on its soil for such an operation.

“Technical stopover” of the medical plane in the Canaries after a refusal from Morocco (regional government)

Hantavirus: number of confirmed cases of infection now stands at five, says WHO

🎥 Three suspected cases landed in Cape Verde, a French person identified as a contact case

One of the planes that took off from Cape Verde landed in the Canaries

One of the two planes which took off from Cape Verde during the evacuation of passengers from the cruise ship affected by an outbreak of hantavirus landed in the Canaries, noted an AFP journalist.

The medical plane, whose arrival in the archipelago had not been mentioned until now, landed at Gran Canaria airport, south of Las Palmas, shortly before 3:30 p.m. GMT.

Research into possible contact cases continues

Efforts are continuing to search for possible cases of contact with infected people, in particular among travelers on board the flight between Saint Helena and Johannesburg – taken by the 69-year-old Dutch woman who has since died. A French person who took this flight has already been identified as a contact case.

Operated by the South African company Airlink on April 24, the flight had 82 passengers and six crew members on board, according to a company representative.

The South African Minister of Health specified that other people were being sought, like those "who were at the [Johannesburg] airport before this lady [the 69-year-old Dutchwoman] became unwell" as well as the "health personnel at Kempton Park", the hospital where she was treated until her death.

As for the 69-year-old Briton, currently hospitalized in Johannesburg, he had not been evacuated by a commercial flight, but "health professionals were also in contact with him", said the South African minister: "In total, 62 people could have come into contact with these people, 42 of them have already been found and are currently under surveillance."

One of the deceased took a KLM flight “briefly”, according to the company

A passenger who died from a hantavirus infection boarded a KLM flight from Johannesburg to the Netherlands "briefly" but was disembarked before takeoff, the airline said.

“Due to the passenger's state of health at the time, the crew decided not to allow him to travel on this flight,” KLM said, referring to flight KL592 from Johannesburg to Amsterdam on April 25 at 11:15 p.m. local time.

Credits: FMM graphic studio

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WHO chief 'does not think' the situation is similar to the start of the Covid-19 pandemic

The director general of the WHO told AFP that he "does not think" that the situation arising from the appearance of an outbreak of hantavirus on a cruise ship was similar to that of the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“For now, the risk for the rest of the world is low,” repeated Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

MV Hondius will dock at the port of Granadilla on the Canary Island of Tenerife (Spanish Health Minister)

The MV Hondius will dock "within three days" at the port of Granadilla on the island of Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, announced the Spanish Minister of Health, despite the opposition displayed by the regional government of this archipelago.

“A joint health assessment and evacuation system will be put in place to repatriate all members of the trip, unless their state of health prevents it. All foreign passengers will be repatriated,” added Mónica García Gómez during a press conference.

The 14 Spaniards currently on board the MV Hondius will be transferred to the Gómez Ulla military hospital in Madrid, she said.

The boat's owner asked to dock in Tenerife on Saturday (Canary Islands leader)

The owner of the MV Hondius has requested to dock in Tenerife on Saturday, the regional president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, declared in Brussels.

“The only new development is that the shipowner requested to dock in a port in Tenerife on the 9th, and this is a request which is being studied,” he declared in Brussels, after a meeting with the European Commission.

Two ambulance planes evacuating suspected cases took off from Cape Verde

Two medical planes carrying patients evacuated from the MV Hondius took off from Praia airport to be transferred to the Netherlands, noted an AFP journalist.

Three people “in stable condition” had been evacuated from the boat earlier in the morning – two sick crew members and one asymptomatic contact person – announced the WHO.

According to the Flightradar24 website, a first plane took off towards Amsterdam where it should arrive around 6:30 p.m. (local time, 4:30 p.m. GMT). No destination was specified on the website for the second plane.

Credits: AFP

One of the people evacuated from the MV Hondius will be hospitalized in Germany

A person evacuated from the cruise ship will be taken care of in the Netherlands by German emergency services to be hospitalized in Germany, a spokesperson for the Düsseldorf firefighters told AFP, referring to an "asymptomatic contact" case.

His nationality and gender have not been specified by the authorities. According to the spokesperson, firefighters must take care of this patient during the day. He will then be taken care of, “at the earliest in the evening” by the University Hospital of Düsseldorf, which “has different options to respond to such a suspected case”.

With AFP, Reuters and AP

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