90-Second Read: Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship arrives at Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands

A Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship with more than 140 people on board has arrived at Tenerife, one of Spain's Canary Islands off the coast of West Africa. TENERIFE, Spain (AP) — A Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship with more than 140 people on board has arrived at Tenerife, the largest of Spain's Canary Islands, off the coast of West Africa, where the passengers and some of the crew are to disembark. View from the bridge of the Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius after its arrival at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Sunday, May 10, 2026. Live from the port of Granadilla on the island of Tenerife, Spain, where a Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship with more than 140 passengers and crew on board is set to arrive. Three people have died.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, along with Spain's health and interior ministers, were to be supervising the evacuation of the ship. But the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases. As a Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship is set to arrive at Granadilla port in Tenerife, Spain on Sunday morning, the WHO, Spanish authorities and cruise company Oceanwide Expedition are coordinating the disembarkation of passengers and some crew on ground. Authorities have said the passengers and crew members who will disembark will have no contact with the local population. Symptoms usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure.

The World Health Organization, Spanish authorities and cruise company Oceanwide Expeditions have said that nobody on board the MV Hondius is currently showing symptoms of the virus. The ship will not dock but will remain at anchor, with people ferried off in small boats. Everyone disembarking will be checked for symptoms, and will only be taken off the ship once evacuation flights are ready to fly them to their destinations. Hantavirus usually spreads when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings and isn't easily transmitted between people. Americans are to be quarantined at a medical center in Nebraska.

Authorities are aiming to complete the evacuation flights on Sunday and Monday, the director of the WHO's Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Management, Maria Van Kerkhove, said in a briefing Saturday. Oceanwide has listed 13 Spanish passengers and one Spanish crew member on board. All Spanish passengers will be transferred to a medical facility and quarantined. Those disembarking will leave behind their luggage, and will be allowed to take only a small bag with essential items, a cellphone, charger and documentation. Some crew, as well as the body of a passenger who died on board, will remain on the ship, which will sail on to the Netherlands where it will undergo disinfection, Spanish authorities said.