Third Passenger Dies as Andes Hantavirus Spreads on Cruise Ship

A hantavirus outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius has killed three people and infected at least 11 others as of May 12, marking one of the rare documented person-to-person transmissions of the Andes virus strain outside South America. The vessel, which departed Argentina before the country withdrew from the World Health Organization, was denied docking at several ports before Spain accepted passengers at Tenerife in the Canary Islands, where they were met by hazmat-suited workers. Eighteen US-bound passengers are currently being held in quarantine units with special biocontainment equipment on their flights. Despite reassurances from WHO and CDC officials that this is not another COVID-19 situation, public health experts warn that an outbreak involving a respiratory disease with roughly 40 percent fatality rates, no vaccine, and limited person-to-person transmission knowledge should not be dismissed as normal. The global response has been complicated by significant cuts to the CDC, which has lost about a quarter of its staff since January 2025, with Georgetown professor Lawrence Gostin telling AP that the agency is "not even a player" in the response. The United States faces a critical diagnostic gap, as the CDC's PCR test for the Andes virus remains unvalidated for patient use, leaving most of the country unable to test for early infection. The University of Nebraska Medical Center emerged as a potential solution, developing and validating its own PCR test within days by collaborating with a University of New Mexico lab that had created the test for research purposes. Nebraska is now equipped to run several hundred tests and has begun screening passengers in its specialized biocontainment unit, where early detection could significantly improve survival rates through supportive care such as fluid management and breathing support.