MULTIPLE American tourists are being monitored after dozens of passengers disembarked the luxury cruise ship that has been hit by a deadly virus outbreak.
Three people have died on board the MV Hondius cruise after developing hantavirus, a rare illness typically spread through contact with infected rodents.
Six Americans left the ship on April 24 on the island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean, just under two weeks after the first death on board the ship, the Daily Mail reported, citing the cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions.
Officials said one person in Arizona, two people in Georgia and an unspecified number of people in California were being monitored.
Texas Health and Human Services confirmed in a statement that two more people in Texas were confirmed to have disembarked from the ship before the outbreak was found.
Neither of them have shown hantavirus symptoms and did not have contact with any infected people on the ship.
They agreed to monitor themselves for symptoms, Texas officials said.
One traveler who was exposed to hantavirus on the ship has been identified in Virginia as well, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
The individual is in good health and is being monitored, a spokesperon confirmed.
“Our understanding is that fewer than 30 U.S. Citizens were on board the ship. A small number (<5) of other potentially exposed Virginians might be identified in the days ahead,” the spokesperson said, adding that they believe the risk to the general public is low.
The Georgia Department of Public Health confirmed to The U.S. Sun that it is monitoring two patients, but did not provide details about where in the state they live or how long they will be monitored.
“The individuals are currently in good health and show no signs of infection. They are following current recommendations from CDC,” the agency said.
The Arizona Department of Health Services said it was notified of one resident who was onboard MV Hondius and has since returned home.
“This individual is not symptomatic and is being monitored by public health,” a spokesperson told The U.S. Sun.
The California Department of Public Health confirmed to The U.S. Sun that it was notified by the CDC of multiple residents who had been on board the ship.
The agency is assisting local health officials with monitoring the residents.
“There is no information that the California residents are ill or infected,” a department spokesperson said.
“At this time, the risk to public health in California is low.”
The CDC confirmed it is monitoring the health status of all American passengers on the cruise, which was scheduled to travel from Argentina to Cape Verde.
“The safety and health of the affected American travelers is our number one goal,” Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said on Wednesday.
“Hantavirus is not spread by people without symptoms, transmission requires close contact, and the risk to the American public is very low.”
The ship, with 147 passengers and crew on board, departed from Argentina on April 1 and made multiple stops across the Atlantic Ocean.
Since then, a Dutch couple and a German national have died from the outbreak.
Hantavirus typically spreads to humans through contact with the feces, urine or saliva of infected rodents.
Human-to-human transmission of the disease is uncommon, but was reported in previous outbreaks of Andes virus, a specific species of hantavirus.
Eight people are suspected to have contracted the virus and three other passengers were evacuated from the vessel on Wednesday.
A Dutch KLM flight attendant was hospitalized with “mild symptoms” after she encountered an infected woman who later died of hantavirus.
The contagious passenger disembarked the ship before flying to Johannesburg.
She tried to get on another flight but was removed from an aircraft before takeoff due to her health condition. She later died in the hospital.
Two British passengers are currently self-isolating at home in the UK after they left the ship.
Passengers still on board have been told to follow strict isolation and hygiene measures while officials look to track down the rat-borne illness.
The WHO said the illness onset took place between April 6 and 28, with those infected suffering from fever, shock, acute respiratory distress syndrome, gastrointestinal symptoms and rapid progression to pneumonia.
Martin Anstee, 56, who was working as an expedition guide on the ship recently broke his silence after he was urgently airlifted off MV Hondius.
The British tour guide and former police officer told Sky News he was being treated at a hospital in the Netherlands after contracting the virus.
He said he was “doing okay,” but “there are still lots of tests to be done.”
Anstee said he was in isolation in serious but stable condition, and has no idea how long he’ll be hospitalized.
Betsy Arakawa, the wife of actor Gene Hackman, died from hantavirus in March 2025, just days before the legendary actor died from a heart condition.
The US has been keeping an eye on hantavirus outbreaks since 1993 after an outbreak in the Four Corners region, where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet.
There were 890 cases of the disease reported in the US between 1993 and 2023.
“These were all laboratory-confirmed cases and included HPS and non-pulmonary hantavirus infection,” the CDC said.
