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Hantavirus live updates: 2 infected patients in isolation in Dutch hospitals, officials say

"This is not the start of a COVID pandemic," a WHO official said.

ByChristopher Watson and Ivan Pereira
Last Updated: May 7, 2026, 2:28 PM EDT

Global health authorities are working to contain an outbreak of hantavirus aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship.

The total number of confirmed cases associated with the outbreak is increasing, health officials said. To date, three people who were aboard the ship are known to have died of the virus.

More than 100 passengers remain on the ship, and the World Health Organization is monitoring their health. Officials said that the "overall public health risk remains low" but that there may be some person-to-person spread.

Health officials in multiple states say they're monitoring some passengers who have returned to the U.S. after being aboard the ship for potential hantavirus infections.

Key Headlines

Here's how the news is developing.
2 hours and 20 minutes ago

Suspected hantavirus case in France, officials say

The French Health Ministry issued a statement Thursday confirming that a French national has been tested for hantavirus after they displayed mild symptoms.

The unidentified person had been in contact with a confirmed hantavirus case who flew from Saint Helena to Johannesburg, according to the statement.

Eight other French nationals who were not passengers aboard the MV Hondius have been identified as contacts of a confirmed case after the infected person left the ship during a flight between Saint Helena and Johannesburg, according to the French Health ministry.

"Following the appearance of mild symptoms in one of these individuals, diagnostic testing is underway and isolation measures have been implemented," the statement said.

The news brings the number of hantavirus cases associated with the MV Hondius to six confirmed and six suspected.

-ABC News' Zoe Magee

2 hours and 51 minutes ago

Dutch hospital confirms patient has hantavirus

Leiden University Medical Centre in the Netherlands said in a statement Thursday that it has admitted a patient with the hantavirus.

The patient arrived at the hospital Wednesday, according to LUMC.

"The department where the patient is admitted is prepared to care for patients with severe infectious diseases. During the treatment of a patient with a suspected serious contagious disease at LUMC, all precautionary measures are taken to prevent spread," the hospital said.

There are now six confirmed hantavirus cases and five suspected.

-ABC News' Zoe Magee

3 hours and 23 minutes ago

'This is not the start of a COVID pandemic': WHO official

World Health Organization epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove said Thursday that the current hantavirus outbreak onboard the MV Hondius is not the same as the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I want to be unequivocal here. This is not SARS-CoV-2. This is not the start of a COVID pandemic," Van Kerkhove said. "This is an outbreak that we see on a ship."

PHOTO: Director of epidemic and pandemic management and US infectious disease epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove speaking during a virtual press conference on the hantavirus cluster at the WHO headquarters, in Geneva, May 7, 2026.
Director of epidemic and pandemic management and US infectious disease epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove speaking during a virtual press conference on the hantavirus cluster linked to a cruise ship travel, at the WHO headquarters, in Geneva, May 7, 2026.
Christopher Black/WHO/AFP via Getty Images

Van Kerkhove further noted that hantavirus doesn't spread in the same way coronaviruses do, but rather requires "close, intimate contact."

Anais Legand with the WHO said that a ship makes “a very specific environment” for transmission, but that there was no indication that there is something unusual about the virus.

-ABC News' Joseph Simonetti and Zoe Magee

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