The Swiss Government has confirmed one patient is being treated for hantavirus in hospital after returning from the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius.
, as the leader of the Spanish Canary Islands says he does not want the vessel to dock on the archipelago. The Swiss government confirmed one patient was being treated for hantavirus in hospital after returning to Switzerland from the Dutch-flagged cruise ship MV Hondius, which is in the midst of a deadly outbreak of the rodent-borne disease.
"The man had returned from a trip to South America with his wife at the end of April," the government said in a statement. The MV Hondius cruise ship is anchored at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, Monday, May 4, 2026. "Having noticed symptoms, he telephoned his GP and went to the University Hospital Zurich for further assessment.
" The man was "immediately placed in isolation" in hospital, before lab tests revealed a positive test for the American strained hantavirus variant. The man's wife, who accompanied him on the cruise, is not showing any symptoms of the virus but is self-isolating as a precaution.
"Unlike the European hantaviruses, which are transmitted through excretions of infected rodents, for the American hantavirus variant, person-to-person transmission has also been documented in rare cases," the department wrote. "However, transmission only occurs through close contact. The FOPH therefore considers the occurrence of further cases in Switzerland unlikely.
In addition to the Swiss patient, two laboratory-confirmed cases of hantavirus and five suspected cases have been identified from the ship cluster, according to the World Health Organisation. That includes three deaths, one critically ill patient and three individuals reporting mild symptoms.
Health workers get off the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius, a cruise ship carrying nearly 150 people as it remains off Cape Verde on Monday, May 4, 2026 after three passengers died and several others fell seriously ill in a suspected hantavirus outbreak. The development comes as the leader of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, publicly rejected the Spanish government's call to allow the MV Hondius to dock in the islands.
The luxury cruise ship has been suspended in waters off Cape Verde on the African coast, which was meant to be the ship's final destination, since May 3. The Spanish Health Ministry said it had been asked by the World Health Organisation and the European Union to take MV Hondius "in accordance with international law and humanitarian principles", according to theBut, speaking to radio station COPE, Clavijo said he could not allow the vessel to enter the Canaries.
"This decision is not based on any technical criteria, nor is there sufficient information to reassure the public or guarantee their safety," Clavijo told radio station COPE, according to Reuters. Clavijo said he had requested an urgent meeting with Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to discuss the issue.
Earlier today, Spanish state broadcaster TVE said the infected cruise ship was heading towards Europe and expected to dock in Tenerife in the next few days, citing sources from the country's health ministry. On Monday, cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions confirmed four Australians were among 88 passengers and 68 crew aboard the ship. Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.
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