Friday 08 / May / 2026
The US says it is organizing an evacuation flight for American nationals on a cruise ship hit by an outbreak of hantavirus.
The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius is currently on its way to the Canary Islands, where it is expected to arrive on Sunday morning.
"The Department of State is closely tracking the hantavirus outbreak on a Dutch cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean and maintaining close contact with the cruise ship staff, Americans on board, and US and international health authorities," a US State Department spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said a repatriation flight is being arranged, and that the department is ready to provide consular assistance to Americans on board as soon as the ship reaches the island of Tenerife.
There are 17 US citizens among the more than 140 passengers aboard the ship, according to cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions.
Spain: Hantavirus evacuation must happen Sunday-Monday due to weather
Spain's government says passengers aboard the cruise ship at the center of a hantavirus outbreak will be flown to their home countries soon after the vessel arrives in the Canary Islands on Sunday.
"That same day, we will have planes available and will be able to start getting these people onto the planes," Cabinet minister Angel Victor Torres told journalists.
Separately, the Spanish archipelago's regional government said adverse weather conditions meant the evacuation had to happen swiftly.
"The only window of opportunity we have to carry out this operation is around 12 o'clock on Sunday morning and until conditions change from Monday," regional government spokesman Alfonso Cabello told reporters.
He said failure to get passengers out in that window could mean the ship will have to leave again.
