18 Americans Airlifted Home After Hantavirus Outbreak on Antarctic Cruise Ship

Officials confirmed that 18 American passengers were airlifted to the United States following a deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard an Antarctic expedition cruise ship. The repatriation occurred on May 10, when the U.S. State Department airlifted the passengers from the Spanish island of Tenerife.

Two of the repatriated passengers are currently being treated in biocontainment units “out of an abundance of caution,” according to the Health and Human Services X account. One passenger tested positive for hantavirus, while the other developed mild symptoms. Of the group, 16 are receiving treatment at an ASPR Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center in Omaha, Nebraska, and two others are being treated at a RESPTC in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Americans were among dozens of passengers monitored as international health officials continued investigating the outbreak aboard the ship. The Dutch-flagged m/v Hondius departed from southern Argentina on April 1 with approximately 150 passengers and crew for an expedition cruise through the Atlantic Ocean.

Outbreak Timeline and Confirmed Cases

Just 11 days into the voyage, a 70-year-old man died after developing fever, headaches, and abdominal pain. Following additional illnesses, the World Health Organization (WHO) identified the ship as the site of a hantavirus outbreak. As of May 12, the WHO reported 11 confirmed hantavirus cases linked to the ship, including three deaths: a Dutch married couple and a German national.

All remaining passengers have since disembarked and are being repatriated to their home countries, according to the latest statement from Oceanwide Expeditions, the ship’s operator. However, the repatriation effort sparked concerns and fears of another pandemic—concerns that experts say are overstated.

Experts Dismiss Pandemic Fears Amid Human-to-Human Transmission Concerns

“I think we’re actually in very good shape,” said Lina Moses, PhD, an epidemiologist and disease ecologist at Tulane University’s Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health Tropical Medicine, who specializes in rodent-borne diseases. “It’s not surprising we’re starting to see more suspected cases. That means that the process is working right. They are monitoring people effectively and identifying people as they become ill,” Moses told Healthline.

Pandemic fears have largely stemmed from the potential for human-to-human transmission of hantavirus aboard the Hondius, a rare but documented phenomenon. Hantavirus is typically transmitted through exposure to the urine or droppings of infected mice and rats. The virus can survive in dust and debris, and when that dust is inhaled, infection can occur. However, one strain of hantavirus endemic to South America, the Andes virus, has been