Hantavirus outbreak
aboard the MV Hondius

Timeline

1. June 5, 2026

   🇦🇷 Argentina — the search for the outbreak's origin expands to Mendoza province (west), after Tierra del Fuego (far south), health authorities announced on 5 June 2026 (franceinfo with AFP). Biologists from the Malbrán Institute, jointly with the US CDC, will run a rodent-trapping and testing campaign in Malargüe (Mendoza) from 8 to 12 June. Scientists are still analysing the more than 150 rodents captured in mid-May around Ushuaia and in Tierra del Fuego National Park. Mendoza has no confirmed circulation of the “Andes” strain, but a local university report judges that “the risk is not zero” given the potential presence of the vector rodent Oligoryzomys longicaudatus. 🧭 The outbreak's origin remains unidentified: the “patient zero”, a Dutch passenger who has since died, had travelled across Argentina for four months (with incursions into Chile and Uruguay) before boarding on 1 April in Ushuaia. 📊 Tally unchanged: 13 cases (11 confirmed + 2 probable), 3 deaths, 7 affected countries.

2. June 1, 2026

   🇺🇸 United States — 5 of the 18 American MV Hondius passengers head home to finish quarantine (NBC News, 1 June 2026). On Monday 1 June, five of the eighteen passengers held at the National Quarantine Unit in Omaha (Nebraska) were allowed to return home to complete the 42-day quarantine (ending 22 June 2026), under local monitoring (law enforcement stationed outside the home and twice-daily video temperature checks). The five are asymptomatic and have never tested positive; 13 remain on site in Omaha. New York, California, Arizona and Oregon agreed to receive returning passengers. 🧪 No American has tested positive to date. 📊 Worldwide tally unchanged: 13 cases (11 confirmed), 3 deaths.

3. May 30, 2026

   🇳🇱 MV Hondius — the vessel has been declared clean again after the additional cleaning (NU.nl, 30 May 2026). The extra work required by GGD Rotterdam-Rijnmond on 26 May 2026 (following an initial disinfection by EWS Group started on 19 May) is complete; the ship is deemed clean, clearing the public-health prerequisite for its departure to the home port of Vlissingen. 🛳️ Cruise resumption remains targeted for 13 June 2026 (7-night expedition from Longyearbyen, Svalbard). 📊 Tally unchanged: 13 cases (11 confirmed + 2 probable), 3 deaths, 7 affected countries. No new cases or deaths since 2 May.

4. May 28, 2026

   🇦🇺 Australia — the quarantine of the 6 passengers at Bullsbrook (Perth, WA) is extended to late June 2026 (Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 28 May 2026; Associated Press wire). Initially set at at least 21 days from their 15 May 2026 arrival, the quarantine at the Bullsbrook centre (a former COVID site on Perth's outskirts) is extended on the advice of Federal Health Minister Mark Butler, who has touted « one of the world's strongest quarantine responses ». The 6 people involved (4 Australians + 1 permanent resident + 1 New Zealander) were asymptomatic and tested negative before leaving the Netherlands. 📊 Tally unchanged: 13 cases (11 confirmed + 2 probable), 3 deaths, 7 affected countries.

5. May 26, 2026

   🇳🇱 MV Hondius — GGD Rotterdam-Rijnmond orders additional cleaning, departure to Vlissingen postponed (ANP wire relayed by Hart van Nederland on 26 May 17:25 CEST, HLN on 26 May 19:12 UTC; AP wire via The Boston Globe / US News / WTNH / WKBN, 26 May). After the first disinfection phase that started on Tuesday 19 May 2026 with EWS Group, GGD Rotterdam-Rijnmond (Yvonne van Duijnhoven, director of public health in Rotterdam) inspected the vessel and advised additional cleaning work. As a result, the return to the home port of Vlissingen, originally scheduled for Tuesday 26 May 2026, is postponed until a new final GGD inspection. 🛳️ Cruise resumption pushed from 29 May to 13 June 2026 — the 29 May and 5 June 2026 voyages have been cancelled (Cruise Industry News, 19 May 2026 — established before this 26 May update), and Oceanwide Expeditions now expects to resume operations on 13 June 2026 with a 7-night roundtrip expedition from Longyearbyen (Svalbard) to North Spitsbergen. Operator statement (paraphrased): « All affected guests and partners have been informed directly, with rebooking options. » 📊 Tally unchanged: 13 cases (11 confirmed + 2 probable), 3 deaths, 7 affected countries (« 12 cases and three deaths » per the WHO's current public count, which does not yet include the 13th Spanish case from 25 May — WHO alignment expected in the next DON). No new cases, no new deaths since 2 May.

6. May 25, 2026

   🇪🇸 2nd confirmed hantavirus case in Spain — the Spanish Ministry of Health announced on Monday 25 May 2026 that a new MV Hondius passenger placed in quarantine in Madrid has tested positive (AFP wire relayed by France Info at 20:37 Paris time; NBC News, CBC, NU.nl). The patient was transferred to the high-level isolation unit at Gómez Ulla military hospital (Madrid) and will remain hospitalised there. The Ministry did not disclose the patient's identity, age or health status. Of the 14 Spanish nationals placed in quarantine after disembarking the Hondius, 2 are now positive — the 1st Spanish case (asymptomatic) was announced on 11 May 2026 and hospitalised at the same Gómez Ulla hospital, with the 13 others then testing negative. 🛡️ The Spanish Ministry stresses that this new case « does not change the level of risk for the general population » (quoted by Der Spiegel on 26 May), in line with the WHO « low risk » assessment of 17 May. 📊 Our count now stands at 13 cases (11 confirmed + 2 probable), 3 deaths, 7 affected countries (Spain was already counted).

7. May 24, 2026

   🇺🇸 HHS PREP Act declaration on Andes virus — published in the Federal Register under number 2026-10539 (public inspection on 24 May 2026) and announced the same day by HHS Secretary RFK Jr. on his official account @SecKennedy. In his statement, the Health Secretary said he had signed a targeted declaration under the PREP Act to support the development and deployment of medical countermeasures related to the Andes virus, with the goal of « removing obstacles to research and response efforts, while continuing to monitor the recent outbreak linked to the South Atlantic cruise ship ». Established press (The Hill, ABC News, WSBTV) confirms the declaration is in force until 18 July 2026 and that it protects the investigational use of favipiravir (an RNA-virus antiviral originally developed against influenza) as a potential treatment for hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. The declaration does not cover a vaccine and does not prejudge favipiravir's efficacy against Andes — it only lifts liability barriers for experimental use, within the scope of the MV Hondius outbreak and its chain of transmission. 🇫🇷 France — the strict line owned and documented (Le Parisien, Nicolas Berrod & Véronique Hunsinger, 24 May). The daily describes the backstage shift from self-isolation to mandatory hospital confinement for the 26 French contact cases (4 cruise passengers + 22 flight contacts on two planes), all still hospitalised despite the absence of symptoms. An option to soften the protocol toward home confinement had been considered earlier in the week, but the 12th case announced by the WHO on Friday 22 May reinforced Health Minister Stéphanie Rist's strict line. The government relied on epidemic modelling presented to it. 📊 Tally unchanged: 12 cases (10 confirmed + 2 probable), 3 deaths, 7 affected countries.

8. May 22, 2026

   🌐 The WHO announces a 12th case — an MV Hondius crew member (press conference by Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Friday 22 May; reported by France Info 14:37 CEST). The patient had disembarked at Tenerife on 11 May, was repatriated the same day to the Netherlands and had been in quarantine since. They were admitted to hospital as a precaution and placed in isolation, per the RIVM (Dutch national institute for public health and the environment). HLN, citing the WHO: the patient had « close contact with sick people on board ». 📊 Tally raised to « 12 reported cases and three deaths » (WHO), all having passed through the vessel — i.e., per our count, 12 cases (10 confirmed + 2 probable), 3 deaths, 7 affected countries (the Netherlands were already counted; the crew member's nationality is not specified). It is the first positive case since the Canadian case on Sunday. 🇫🇷 France: the positive French patient (over 65) is still in intensive care at Bichat, said Health Minister Stéphanie Rist (22 May); 22 contact cases of deceased persons remain under hospital surveillance. 🇪🇺 The ECDC update of 21 May still showed 11 cases (« no new cases since the previous update ») — predating the WHO announcement. ⚠️ Disinformation: France Info (Vrai ou Faux, 22 May) flags pro-Russian accounts trying to make people believe that « France is overwhelmed » by hantavirus.

9. May 20, 2026

   🇫🇷 Audition at the French Senate — round table « Hantavirus: what epidemic risk in France today? », 20 May 2026, recorded on video and transcribed. Four speakers: Prof. Didier Lepeltier (Director General of Health — DGS), Prof. Xavier Lescure (infectious diseases, Bichat), Prof. Karine Lacombe (head of infectious diseases, Saint-Antoine), Prof. Gilles Pialou (head of infectious diseases, Tenon). 💊 Karine Lacombe on favipiravir — important new fact: « it is the only treatment for which preclinical and animal-model efficacy has been shown. The problem is that there are currently no producers at the global scale. […] There is major European work to source this drug and above all to restart its manufacture. » 📊 Didier Lepeltier on public support: « 82% of French people judge the way France handled the isolation of these 25 contacts to be justified », to be compared with the British protocol (72 h of hospitalisation then easing) and the initial US protocol (self-isolation, since tightened). 🛰️ Karine Lacombe on infodemic: she states she « initiated a research group at ANRS-MIE on infodemics » which convened with communication-science researchers to « factually vaccinate the population against fake news ». 🌍 Gilles Pialou (Tenon) on One Health: « [H]antaviruses are a caricature of One Health. If you take only the medical angle you do not understand; you need environmental health, the impact of the environment on the spread of these rodents. » 🏛️ Lepeltier on the DGS: the DGS now hosts a health crisis centre set up in March 2024 in the wake of the Covid after-action review, building on the former CORUS unit (17 to 20 people). 📊 Tally unchanged this day: 12 cases (10 confirmed + 2 probable), 3 deaths, 7 affected countries. Note: automatic transcription by the Senate — occurrences of « antivirus » in the raw text are OCR errors for « hantavirus », corrected in brackets in quotes.

10. May 19, 2026

    🇦🇷 Ushuaïa scientific mission — launched on 18 May (France Info Santé, published 19 May 06:01 CEST). Biologists from the Malbran Institute (Argentina's reference institute for infectious diseases, Buenos Aires) have been deployed to Tierra del Fuego to set rodent traps and analyse whether the Andes strain circulates among local populations (long-tailed rats, working hypothesis). Results expected in about four weeks (mid-June 2026). The Ushuaïa landfill — surrounded by a rumour of a visit by Leo Schilperoord, suspected index case — was not retained among the capture sites. Provincial authorities consider the hypothesis of Ushuaïa as the contamination site « practically nil »: the Andes strain has never been notified in Tierra del Fuego since mandatory reporting began; Schilperoord and his partner (also deceased) had travelled before boarding through endemic regions of Argentina and Chile. 🧬 Expert quotes: Mircea Sofonea (epidemiologist, CHU de Nîmes): « Argentine specialists doubt the Ushuaïa hypothesis and these analyses will update the hantavirus mapping. » Etienne Decroly (virologist, CNRS Research Director, Aix-Marseille): « Identifying the reservoir helps to better control it and guard against new zoonotic infections. » Sebastian Poljak (mammalogist, Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas, Cadic): « to definitively eradicate the idea that hantavirus is here. » 🇺🇸 United States — Nebraska quarantine made mandatory (NBC Nightly News, Maggie Vespa segment, published 19 May 23:22 UTC). According to NBC News, the CDC now says the exposed Americans quarantining at the Nebraska facility (UNMC Omaha) are not allowed to leave, after the quarantine was initially presented as voluntary. To be confirmed against a CDC primary source (official order / statement): at this stage, a single press source. 📊 Tally unchanged: 11 cases (9 confirmed + 2 probable) per our strict count, 12 per inclusive ECDC count (9+2+1), 3 deaths, 7 affected countries.

11. May 18, 2026

    🛳️ The MV Hondius docked at Rotterdam this morning between 10:00 and noon local time — end of the six-week voyage that began in Antarctica (AFP observation via France Info live, 18 May 09:09 → 15:33). 27 people on board on arrival: 25 crew members + 2 medics. Composition per Oceanwide Expeditions: 17 Filipino nationals, 4 Dutch, 4 Ukrainian, 1 Russian, 1 Polish. All asymptomatic at this point. Quarantine in prefab cabins at the port for 42 days (Andes incubation period) — the 4 Dutch nationals may self-isolate at home. ⚱️ The body of the German passenger who died on board on 2 May (Case 1) was removed from the vessel at Rotterdam for cremation in the Netherlands, ashes returned to Germany. 🧴 3-day disinfection by EWS Group in consultation with RIVM; strict protocol France 2 lunchtime news: 'every surface must be drenched with disinfectant'. Cruise resumption scheduled for 29 May 2026. 🇬🇧 UK — 9 contact cases from Saint Helena and Ascension Island transferred Sunday 17 May to Arrowe Park Hospital (Upton, near Liverpool) by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA); self-isolation to follow if conditions are met. 🌐 WHO — public health risk 'low' maintained (assessment bulletin published Sunday 17 May): 'The public health risk has been reassessed in light of the most recent available information, and the overall risk remains low.' 🇫🇷 France: ~26 contact cases still under 42-day surveillance, none symptomatic (France Info live, exchange Clément Parrot). 📊 Tally unchanged: 11 cases (9 confirmed + 2 probable) per our strict count, 12 per the ECDC inclusive count, 3 deaths, 7 affected countries. No new cases announced.

12. May 17, 2026

    🇪🇺 ECDC daily update 17 May 2026 (12:00 UTC): 9 confirmed + 2 probable + 1 inconclusive = 12 cases, 3 deaths. The Canadian case is already classified as 'confirmed' in this update, as ECDC integrated PHAC inputs before Dr Joss Reimer's public announcement later in the afternoon. Risk to EU/EEA general population remains assessed as 'very low'. ECDC notes that identification of further cases among passengers returned home remains expected (Andes incubation up to 42 days). 🇨🇦 Canadian case CONFIRMED — NML Winnipeg, PHAC announcement ~13:30 UTC. Later on the afternoon of Sunday 17 May 2026, that is after the day's ECDC update, Dr Joss Reimer (chief public health officer of Canada) announced that Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg (PHAC) had confirmed the presumptive positive case announced on Saturday afternoon by Dr Bonnie Henry. Canadian official tally: 1 confirmed case. The patient (Yukon man in his sixties, hospitalised at the BC Biocontainment Treatment Centre at Surrey Memorial Hospital since Friday 15 May) remains stable, mild symptoms (fever, headache from 14 May), in isolation. Initial Saturday quote from Dr Bonnie Henry: 'The patient is stable, the symptoms remain mild at this point, and they are still in hospital in isolation.' The partner (test-negative but minor symptoms at initial assessment) remains hospitalised for monitoring; a 3rd Canadian is hospitalised as a precaution; the 4th is in home isolation. The 4 nationals remain under follow-up for at least 42 days. 🇫🇷 France — transmission chain 'under control' per Minister Rist. France Info published on 16 May 2026 at 18:59 a statement from Stéphanie Rist (Minister of Health): 'At this stage, the transmission chain is under control on French soil.' No new confirmed case in France; the 26 hospital-isolated contact cases remain PCR-negative; the Bichat patient remains in ICU. 🛳️ Tourism — non-negligible impact on cruise operators (France Info, 17 May 2026 08:09): report on cascade cancellations at Oceanwide Expeditions and competing polar operators, no consolidated industry figure. 📊 Revised HantaTracker tally (after PHAC): 11 cases (9 confirmed + 2 probable) per our strict count, 12 cases per ECDC inclusive count (which adds the US Case 10 inconclusive), 3 deaths, 7 affected countries.

13. May 16, 2026

    🇫🇷 No unusual Andes variant in the French patient — Stéphanie Rist (Minister of Health) announced Friday evening 15 May on X (published by France Info on 16 May 00:04) that the Institut Pasteur has completed full-genome sequencing of the strain detected in the French MV Hondius passenger (confirmed case, Bichat, on ECMO): 'No evidence suggests the emergence of a variant likely to be more transmissible or more dangerous.' Institut Pasteur in a separate statement: 'no element suggests at this stage the emergence of a particular variant with new characteristics.' The sequence is very close to those of the other infected passengers and to Andes strains known to circulate in southern Latin America. The result negatively settles the hypothesis raised by Xavier Lescure (Bichat) on 12 May. About twenty French contact cases remain in hospital isolation; none has reported symptoms to date. Regional mapping clarified: 7 French hospitals mobilised (Bichat, Pitié-Salpêtrière, Rennes, Marseille, CHU Pellegrin Bordeaux — couple from Vienne admitted 12 May, 14-day min quarantine; CHU Rouen — 1 contact case admitted evening 12 May, asymptomatic and PCR-negative; CHU Pontchaillou Rennes — asymptomatic couple from Morbihan admitted 12 May; CHU Angers — regional isolation capacity). 🏫 Paris — 3 students identified as contact cases in 3 separate schools (Paris Rectorat announcement, Friday 15 May 2026, reported by CNews and Orange Actu on 16 May). The most reported is a year-8 student (classe de cinquième) at the Lavoisier middle-and-high school (5^th arrondissement), on the same flight as the infected Dutch passenger; returned to class for a week before isolation with his family; several PCR tests negative, the last on 12 May (ARS Île-de-France). The 5^th arrondissement town hall to families: 'There is therefore no health risk to fear.' 🌐 WHO — stated priority: understand the origin of the outbreak; the Argentine scientific mission to Ushuaia is expected 'very soon' (Le Monde, 15 May 22:44). 🇨🇦 Canada — 11th case (presumptive positive). Dr Bonnie Henry (BC provincial health officer) announces in the afternoon of 16 May a presumptive positive case among the 4 Canadian nationals from the MV Hondius repatriated to Victoria via Bagotville on 10 May. Patient: a Yukon resident, isolating in Victoria, mild symptoms (fever + headache) emerged ~14 May, hospitalised. The BC CDC public health lab test, returned late evening 15 May, is positive for the Andes strain; confirmation from Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg expected within 48 h. The patient's partner tested negative but is hospitalised for monitoring; a 3rd Canadian is hospitalised out of abundance of caution; the 4th is in home isolation. Global tally updated: 11 cases (8 confirmed + 3 probable including the presumptive CA), 3 deaths, 7 affected countries (Canada added). Sources: CBC News, La Presse, Global News, 16 May 2026.

14. May 15, 2026

    Revised bilan: 10 cases (8 confirmed + 2 probable), 3 deaths. 🇺🇸 United States — American Case 10, announced positive on 11 May, is reclassified negative (PCR and serology tests both negative, Taylor Wilson — UNMC Omaha, 14 May 22:13). David Fitter (CDC, AFP — Le Monde 15 May 00:08): 'There is currently no case in the United States.' The US CDC scaled its hantavirus task force from 3 to ~100 staff on 13 May (WSJ + internal memo); 41 people are under surveillance in the US (18 repatriates at UNMC Omaha, 7 who left the Hondius early, several flight contacts); 3 people transferred to a Kansas university hospital. CDC acting director: Jay Bhattacharya. 🇹🇼 Taiwan — new contact-tracing country: a New Zealand national who disembarked from the Hondius at Saint Helena on 24 April, arrived in Taiwan on 7 May and was hospitalised in quarantine on 13 May (PCR-negative, asymptomatic). Held in isolation until 6 June. Announced by spokesperson Tseng Shu-hui and director general Lo Yi-chun (Taiwan CDC). 🇵🇳 Pitcairn — new contact-tracing country: an American MV Hondius passenger is placed in quarantine on the British Pitcairn Island (~50 inhabitants) after transit via French Polynesia, where she did not declare her exposure. Asymptomatic contact case. French Polynesian authorities: 'she will not be allowed to leave the island as long as she represents a risk to others.' 🇦🇷 Argentina — scientific mission to Ushuaia announced by Juan Petrina (Director of Epidemiology, Tierra del Fuego): rodent sampling at the landfill planned for next week, results in about 4 weeks. Petrina recalls that hantavirus diseases have been absent from the province for 30 years (mandatory notification). 🇦🇺 Australia — 6 passengers landed Friday 15 May at the Bullsbrook military base (Perth): 4 Australians, 1 Briton living in Australia, 1 New Zealander. 500-bed quarantine centre, minimum 3 weeks (Mark Butler, ABC); post-3-week protocol not yet decided (WHO recommends 42 days). 🇳🇱 Netherlands — Philippine crew of the MV Hondius: 38 members total (24 stewards + 14 technicians/sailors), all tested negative, 42-day isolation. Last 17 arrived in Eindhoven on Tuesday 12 May from Tenerife. Philippine ambassador José Eduardo Malaya present on arrival. The vessel, conveyed by 27 people (crew + 2 medical), is expected to arrive in Rotterdam on Monday 18 May. 🇫🇷 France — Karine Lacombe (Sorbonne Université) praises the 26 PCR-negatives: 'This is very good news. Even if they were to positive later, they could not have contaminated people earlier.' Stéphanie Rist (audition before the Social Affairs Committee, 14 May): 'there is no reason to wear a mask.' 🌐 WHO — Tedros (14 May 17:57, X): 'more than 120 people from 23 countries' safely disembarked at Tenerife. 'The risk assessment was correct. The protocols worked. The sanitary corridor held.'

15. May 14, 2026

    Stéphanie Rist (Minister of Health) announces on X that all French contact cases have tested PCR-negative, without exception. 26 people in total are in hospital isolation (22 flight contacts + 4 PCR-negative Bichat repatriates). Scientific coordination by Santé publique France, INSERM and ANRS MIE. Monitoring at 3 PCR tests per week. 'It is now possible to rule out any earlier contamination of other people at this stage of the scientific work.' From now on, health authorities will not communicate on these results except in case of a positive. The confirmed Bichat patient remains in ICU. ECDC publishes a 13 May update: 8 confirmed + 2 probable + 1 inconclusive = 11 cases, 3 deaths. 'No new cases or deaths since the previous update' — outbreak stabilised on the EU/EEA side. Pharmacies: FFP2 mask demand has multiplied by five in one week per Radio France (surgical masks ×4). A representative wholesaler went from 2,400 boxes/week to 15,000 in 3 days. The 3 wholesalers controlling 95% of the market issued alert messages to pharmacies, expecting 'limited or impossible' deliveries for a few days. Tension expected short (~1 week). 🇦🇺 Australia / New Zealand: 5 Australians and 1 New Zealander (MV Hondius passengers transited via the Netherlands) are flown back to an air force base near Perth on 14 May. Australian Health Minister Mark Butler describes the quarantine as 'the strongest response of any country accepting passengers from this cruise ship'. Crew and passengers in full PPE on board (Guardian, 14 May 2026). 🇪🇸 Tenerife — WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus travels to Granadilla de Abona port and publishes a video message to the population of Tenerife thanking Spain for its cooperation and the residents for their solidarity (WHO News, 14 May 2026). More than 120 passengers from 23 nationalities have disembarked since 10 May. 🇸🇭 St Helena / Ascension / Tristan da Cunha — SHG Daily Update: territorial status confirmed (St Helena 0 cases, Tristan 1 probable stable and improving, Ascension 1 symptomatic contact with initial PCR-negative). UKHSA lab personnel deployed to St Helena to assess on-island hantavirus PCR testing (hoped to be operational this weekend; in the UK only one laboratory has this capability). A pre-emptive relocation flight is scheduled to land on Saturday 16 May and depart on Sunday 17 May (weather permitting) to move a small number of asymptomatic higher-risk contacts to the UK to complete their isolation. The Azamara Onward cruise ship from South Africa is expected at St Helena on Tuesday 19 May, under standard maritime health protocols (Maritime Declarations of Health + local screening). The Chief Minister will announce on Friday the support scheme for those in voluntary self-isolation.

16. May 13, 2026

    Tristan da Cunha: 6 paratroopers from 16 Air Assault Brigade and 2 British military clinicians parachute from an RAF A400M to deliver medical support to Britain's most remote inhabited island. The operation combines a 6,788 km flight (RAF Brize Norton → Ascension Island) plus 3,000 km due south to Tristan da Cunha. First UK humanitarian medical mission via parachute. Supplies are for a British national who was a MV Hondius passenger, disembarked at Tristan da Cunha during the 13-15 April 2026 stopover; he reported symptoms compatible with hantavirus on 28 April and is stable and in isolation per WHO. The island has about 200 inhabitants, normally relies on a medical team of two and has no airstrip. France — Hospital side: an isolation container with two airtight sterile rooms is installed at Angers University Hospital (Maine-et-Loire) to accommodate possible suspected cases (France Info, 13 May). Variant side: Stéphanie Rist states the government will know 'in the coming days' whether the virus has mutated, pending full sequencing; the director general of Institut Pasteur judges the MV Hondius cluster strain is 'similar to the one isolated in rodents' and that there is 'no evidence of mutation' on the initial sequencing. Legal side: the arrêté of 9 May 2026 setting emergency measures is published in the Official Journal. The government launches an info.gouv.fr page tracking national health measures.

17. May 12, 2026

    A day of multiple announcements. Afternoon: press conference by Stéphanie Rist (Minister of Health) and Caroline Semaille (Director General of Santé publique France). Semaille announces that 11 cases worldwide are now PCR+, all MV Hondius passengers or crew. WHO's bilan published the same day still keeps the 9-confirmed + 2-probable classification (out of 11 cases) pending integration of the French update in the next DON. The minister states there is 'no evidence of diffuse circulation of the virus' in France. 4 of the 5 repatriated French passengers tested negative; the fifth 'still in ICU and in serious condition'. The 22 French contact cases are 'hospitalised or being hospitalised' — hospitalisation 'about fifteen days'. Evening: details on the composition of the 22 French contacts — 3 teenagers (with parents) hospitalised at Pitié-Salpêtrière in Paris, 1 contact case transferred to Rennes University Hospital (from Concarneau), 1 contact case hospitalised at Marseille University Hospital (per Ministry). 18:05: Xavier Lescure (Bichat infectious disease specialist) reveals the French patient has 'the most severe form' of cardiopulmonary disease and is on ECMO ('artificial lung'); over 65 years old with comorbidities. 17:54: Lescure raises the hypothesis of a possible 'variant that may have mutated' — full sequencing expected (the Swiss sequencing of 5 May showed no unusual mutation; the hypothesis is precautionary). 18:36: Emmanuel Macron, on the margins of the Africa Forward summit in Nairobi, states the 'situation is under control' and calls for 'real European coordination' under the WHO. 19:21: Netherlands — RIVM announces that the 26 passengers from the first evacuation flight (arrived Sunday evening) are ALL PCR negative; quarantine maintained; 2 further flights (28 people) arrived afterwards. 122 people evacuated from the Hondius in under 48 hours. The ship returns to Rotterdam on Sunday 17 May with 25 crew + 2 medical staff + the body of an infected German passenger.

18. May 11, 2026

    11 cases (9 confirmed, 2 probable). New confirmed: 1 French national (Bichat), 1 American (Nebraska), 1 Spaniard (Gómez Ulla military hospital, Madrid). 12 Radboud University Medical Center staff (Nijmegen, NL) in 6-week quarantine after procedural errors. Last evacuation flight took off from Tenerife at 18:45 GMT. In the evening, Matignon (PM's Office) escalates: all 22 French flight contacts will be placed in reinforced hospital quarantine, no longer home isolation.

19. May 10, 2026

    8 cases (6 confirmed, 2 probable). Vessel docks at Tenerife (Granadilla de Abona, Canary Islands) at 06:24 local time; 120+ passengers from 23 nationalities disembark under WHO/ECDC coordination.

20. May 7, 2026

    WHO confirms possible human-to-human transmission. 7 cases (2 confirmed, 5 suspected). Low public risk.

21. May 5, 2026

    Cape Verde denies entry to the ship.

22. May 3, 2026

    PCR positive for hantavirus (Andes virus).

23. May 2, 2026

    Third death — German citizen.

24. April 27, 2026

    Dutch woman (69) dies. British passenger evacuated to South Africa.

25. April 24, 2026

    Body disembarked in Saint Helena.

26. April 11, 2026

    First death — Dutch man (70) near Saint Helena.

27. April 1, 2026

    MV Hondius departs Ushuaia, Argentina.