Officials previously said that no one aboard the ship was showing symptoms of hantavirus, which is typically transmitted by rodents. Patients involved in the outbreak have tested positive for a rare strain that can be transmitted from person to person.
Since the ship's docking, passengers have carefully been evacuated by nationality and placed on repatriation flights. Spanish nationals disembarked first, then boarded a plane for Madrid, where they were taken to a military hospital. French and British passengers have also been evacuated.
A Spanish passenger is sprayed with disinfectant by Spanish government officials before boarding a plane after disembarking from the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius at Tenerife airport in the Canary Islands, Spain, Sunday, May 10, 2026. APThere have been at least nine confirmed or suspected cases of hantavirus linked to the outbreak on the ship, including three fatalities: A Dutch couple and a German woman.
The MV Hondius, was carrying nearly 150 people from more than 15 countries, including 17 Americans, had set sail earlier this week from Cape Verde to Granadilla, after Spain agreed to take the ship.
The MV Hondius arrives in the Granadilla Port on May 10, 2026 in Tenerife, part of the Canary Islands, Spain. Chris McGrath / Getty ImagesA complex and careful disembarkation
People were then checked for symptoms. Passengers and crew members had no contact with the local population on Tenerife before they were taken to their evacuation flights, authorities said. A video shared by Spain's defense ministry shows the inside of one repatriation flight, revealing surfaces wrapped in plastic and crew members wearing protective gear.
Although health officials have said risks from the cruise outbreak remain low for the general public, those disembarking and port workers wore face masks, hazmat suits, respirators and other protective gear during the evacuation process.
After disembarkation, a skeleton crew will take on supplies and then begin the journey to Rotterdam, Netherlands, which is expected to take about five days, Oceanwide Expeditions said. The body of a passenger who died on board will also remain on the ship, which will be disinfected once it arrives in Rotterdam, according to Spanish authorities.
A member of the Guardia Civil finishes erecting a tent at an expected reception point for passengers from the MV Hondius. Chris McGrath / Getty ImagesQuarantine protocols
After being removed from the Hondius, 18 people are being flown back to the U.S. in a plane that was sent by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services. The medical repatriation flight will land at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska, and the Americans will be taken to a special biocontainment unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
CBS News was tracking a flight that left Atlanta, Georgia, on a direct course for Tenerife South Airport, just 10 minutes from Granadilla. The U.S. and Spanish governments would not comment on the flight, but a local resident on Tenerife remarked that the island "never" gets any direct flights from the U.S. across the Atlantic Ocean. That flight departed from the Canary Islands around 6 p.m. ET and appears to be headed to Dulles International Airport outside of Washington, D.C., before heading on to Nebraska.
Workers arrive wearing protective clothing after the MV Hondius docked in the Granadilla Port on May 10, 2026 in Tenerife, part of the Canary Islands, Spain. Chris McGrath / Getty ImagesCenters for Disease Control and Prevention acting Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya told CNN's "State of the Union" that seven Americans who left the cruise have been in the U.S. for roughly two weeks, and they are living across the country. One of the Americans who has returned home is a Northern California resident, according to the Santa Clara Public Health Department.
In France, Lecornu said in addition to isolating the passengers on the repatriation flight, he will issue a decree "to implement appropriate isolation measures for close contacts and to protect the general population."
Officials insist the public is at low risk
WHO says that the Andes strain of the virus, which is found in Latin America, is the only one that is known to be able to transmit the virus through human-to-human contact, with Tedros assessing the public risk as "low."
"This is not another COVID, and the risk to the public is low. So, they shouldn't be scared and they shouldn't panic," said Tedros. He also said several years of scientific evaluations of the virus and its behavior, in addition to how the virus has behaved so far in this particular outbreak, have informed that judgement.
Tedros' assessment was echoed by the acting CDC director. Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said Sunday on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" that U.S. passengers being brought home are likely reaching the peak of the virus' incubation cycle this week and "nearing the end of the transmission window."
A Guardia Civil boat is seen in front of the MV Hondius after docking in the Granadilla Port on May 10, 2026 in Tenerife, part of the Canary Islands, Spain. Chris McGrath / Getty ImagesOutbreak timeline
The man developed symptoms on April 6 and died on the ship on April 11, WHO said, but no samples were taken because his symptoms were similar to those of other respiratory viruses, and hantavirus was not suspected at the time.
The German woman showed symptoms on April 28 and died aboard the ship on May 2, according to WHO.
Oceanwide Expeditions said 32 passengers from about a dozen countries had disembarked the Hondius in St. Helena, including the Dutch woman who died days later. Those American passengers who returned to the U.S. prior to the discovery of the outbreak were being monitored by state health agencies in California, Georgia, Texas, Virginia and Arizona.
The vessel then anchored off the coast of Cape Verde, an archipelago located off West Africa, for several days before heading to the Canary Islands.
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