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Hantavirus live updates: 15 in quarantine in Nebraska, 1 in biocontainment unit

A flight carrying U.S. citizens who were on the ship arrived Monday in Nebraska.

ByChristopher Watson, Ivan Pereira, Jon Haworth, Mary Kekatos, Nadine El-Bawab, Leah Sarnoff, and Kevin Shalvey
Last Updated: May 11, 2026, 11:17 AM EDT

Passengers onboard the MV Hondius cruise ship started disembarking Sunday in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, to be transferred to charter flights back to their home countries.

The total number of confirmed and probable cases of hantavirus onboard the ship has risen to 10, including two people confirmed to have died from the virus and one person who remains suspected to have died from the virus.

On Monday, 16 American cruise ship passengers arrived at the University of Nebraska Medical Center; 15 are in the quarantine unit and one person is in the biocontainment unit, officials said. Two other American cruise ship passengers were flown to Atlanta “for further assessment and care," officials said.

Key Headlines

Here's how the news is developing.
May 8, 10:44 am

What is hantavirus and how does it spread?

Here's what you need to know about hantavirus including what it is, how it spreads, how it's treated and if there are any prevention methods:

What is hantavirus?

Hantaviruses are a family of viruses that can cause serious illnesses and death, according to the CDC.

Stock photo of a colorized electron micrograph of the Hantavirus.
Alfred Pasieka/Science Photo Lib/STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images

How does hantavirus spread?

Hantaviruses may also spread from person to person, but that also is rare and only suspected for one subtype from South America, according to the WHO.

Read more about hantavirus here.

1 hour and 35 minutes ago

Risk to general public 'very, very low'

The “risk of hantavirus to the general public remains very, very low,” Dr. Brian Christine, Assistant Secretary for Health at the Department of Health and Human Services, said at a news conference on Monday.

The Andes variant "does not spread easily, and it requires prolonged, close contact with someone who is already symptomatic," he assured.

Even though, he said, the department has taken the situation "very seriously from the very start."

1 hour and 39 minutes ago

Hantavirus on ship is Andes variant

Initial genetic analyses confirmed that the hantavirus on the Hondius cruise ship is of the "known Andes variant and rule out any relevant mutations," Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia said in a post on social media.

-ABC News’ Victoria Beaulé

2 hours and 39 minutes ago

Ship captain thanks guests, crew for their kindness, patience during 'challenging' weeks

Jan Dobrogowski, the captain of the Hondius, recorded a message thanking passengers and crew for their patience during the “extremely challenging” last few weeks.

“What touched me the most, what moved me the most, was your patience, your discipline, and also kindness -- kindness that you show to each other. ... I've witnessed your caring, your unity and quiet strength," Dobrogowski said, according to the Associated Press.

Passengers carry their belongings in plastic bags after being evacuated from the MV Hondius after docking in the Granadilla Port, May 10, 2026 in Tenerife, part of the Canary Islands, Spain.
Chris Mcgrath/Getty Images

He added, “Our thoughts are with the ones that are no longer with us. ... This can be very painful to the people on board, especially already dealing with grief, worry and perhaps uncertainty.”

4:09 AM EDT

French passenger tests positive, minister says

One of the five French passengers evacuated from the MV Hondius has tested positive for hantavirus, according to French Health Minister Stephanie Rist, who spoke to French public radio on Monday morning.

PHOTO: Ambulances transporting French national passengers of the MV Hondius, where an outbreak of hantavirus has been detected, drive in a tunnel enter Paris on May 10, 2026.
Ambulances transporting French national passengers of the MV Hondius, where an outbreak of hantavirus has been detected, drive in a tunnel enter Paris on May 10, 2026, after a plane repatriating them landed Le Bourget airport, in the outskirts of Paris.
Xavier Galiana/AFP via Getty Images

The passenger showed symptoms on the plane to France, and their condition worsened overnight, Rist said. They are in a specialist infectious diseases hospital, she said.

Additionally, France has identified 22 "contact cases" -- people who may have come into contact with those infected with hantavirus, she said. These people were on two flights where someone with hantavirus was also on board and have been isolating, according to Rist.

-ABC News' Victoria Beaule

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