The hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius sails next to a tanker during a refueling operation in the port of Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands on May 11, 2026. Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia said on Monday that the final group of evacuees from the cruise ship will fly to the Netherlands later in the day. Photo: VCG

After the hantavirus-hit cruise ship docked in Spain's Canary Islands on Sunday and repatriation operation involving multiple nations was launched, a small number of passengers from France and the US have shown symptoms of the disease, according to multiple media reports. 

The first day of evacuations from the cruise ship MV Hondius, which is at the center of a hantavirus outbreak, has concluded on Tenerife, in Spain's Canary Islands, Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia said at a news conference at the port on Sunday, CNN reported. A total of 94 people of 19 nationalities disembarked from the MV Hondius, with Garcia saying the operation went "according to plan," per the report.

Following the first-day evacuation procedures, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu confirmed on his X that one of five French people flown back to France Sunday from the cruise ship is showing symptoms of the illness on the repatriation flight.

Lecornu said that the five passengers were immediately placed in strict isolation until further notice, and they are receiving medical care and will undergo testing and a full health assessment.

On Sunday afternoon, Lecornu held a special meeting with key ministers and top health officials at his offices to discuss the care of the new arrivals, AFP reported.

Also, an American passenger from the MV Hondius has tested positive for hantavirus, while another has mild symptoms, the US Department of Health and Human Services announced on Sunday, according to the Xinhua News Agency on Monday.

CNN reported that American passengers from the cruise ship, including at least one presumed positive case, are headed to a highly specialized quarantine unit in Nebraska for evaluation before eventually continuing on to their homes - and weeks of monitoring for symptoms of infection.

The virus, typically associated with rodents, may have passed from human to human aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship, CNN reported citing the World Health Organization. 

Two Indian nationals aboard a hantavirus-hit ship are safe and asymptomatic, officials said Monday, reported Xinhua. The information was shared by the Indian embassy in Madrid, Spain, in a statement issued on Sunday night on social media.

All remaining passengers aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship linked to a hantavirus outbreak will travel to the Netherlands after a planned Australian repatriation flight was canceled, Spain's health minister said Monday, Anadolu Agency reported.

Speaking in Tenerife, Health Minister Monica Garcia said authorities had initially expected two repatriation flights, one to Australia and another to the Netherlands, but the Australian aircraft could not arrive before the operational deadline of 7 pm local time. "As a result, the Netherlands flight will also take the citizens who were supposed to travel on the Australian flight," Garcia said, per the report.

In total seven cases of hantavirus linked to the MV Hondius have been confirmed, with two other cases suspected, the WHO said on Monday, BBC reported.

Regarding the hantavirus-hit cruise ship, the Chinese Embassy in the Netherlands on Monday reminded Chinese nationals in the country to pay close attention to official information issued by Dutch health authorities, the World Health Organization and other relevant institutions, and to refrain from believing or spreading unsubstantiated information. 

The embassy also advised citizens to enhance personal hygiene, maintain clean surrounding environments and avoid contact with any rodents. Medical attention should be sought immediately upon the onset of symptoms such as fever, breathing difficulties, vomiting and diarrhea.

Previously, the UK Health Security Agency confirmed on Friday that a British national had disembarked from the cruise ship MV Hondius to the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, where they live, with a suspected case of hantavirus, the Guardian reported on Sunday.

The WHO has recommended that people on board the affected ship and flights should monitor any early symptoms for 42 days after last potential exposure. The organization also noted that the public health risk from hantavirus remains low.

Thomas Hofmann, an expert of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), said that even if limited transmission were to occur among evacuated passengers, the virus is not easily spread between humans, making widespread outbreaks unlikely, Xinhua reported.

Global Times