French hantavirus patient is critically ill, on artificial lung as total cases grow to 11

The article includes reader polls asking which factor is most important to control viral outbreaks such as hantavirus, listing rapid response and investigation, public awareness and education, and improved sanitation and hygiene.

The article reports that British passengers were removed from the virus-hit MV Hondius while the World Health Organization monitors the evacuation in Tenerife.

As of May 13, 2026, the outbreak has grown to 11 total cases, with 9 confirmed. Three people on the cruise have died, including a Dutch couple who health officials believe were the first exposed to the virus. The French patient remains critically ill in Paris, and the Hondius is returning to the Netherlands for cleaning and disinfection.

Officials acknowledged that this is the first hantavirus outbreak reported on a cruise ship.

The World Health Organization director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that confirmed and suspected hantavirus cases have been reported only among the cruise ship’s passengers or crew.

Two aircraft arrived in the southern Dutch city of Eindhoven overnight carrying Dutch nationals, passengers from Australia and New Zealand, and crew members from the Philippines. All were placed into quarantine.

Argentina's Health Ministry announced that a team of scientific experts will be dispatched in the coming days to investigate the origin of the outbreak.

Spain's Health Ministry said a Spanish passenger evacuated from the Hondius tested positive for hantavirus and is quarantined at a military hospital in Madrid, marking the latest confirmed infection linked to the outbreak.

The French woman infected on the Hondius is in a severe form of hantavirus disease at Bichat Hospital in Paris, with life-threatening lung and heart problems. Dr. Xavier Lescure said she is on a life-support device that pumps blood through an artificial lung, described as the final stage of supportive care.

Twelve employees at Radboud University Medical Centre in Nijmegen were ordered to quarantine for six weeks after improperly handling bodily fluids from a Hondius evacuee. The hospital said the infection risk was low, but a stricter procedure was needed as a precaution; a previously evacuated patient from the flights had tested positive for hantavirus.

A total of 87 passengers and 35 crew members were escorted from the MV Hondius to shore in Tenerife in a coordinated operation that ended on the night of May 11, 2026. The ship then set course for the Netherlands to be cleaned and disinfected, with some crew staying aboard for the voyage.