Archive · April – July 2026
The MV Hondius outbreak
The first Andes hantavirus outbreak documented aboard a cruise ship. Declared over by WHO on July 2, 2026, after every identified contact completed the 42-day follow-up period with no further secondary cases. This page preserves the full record: final toll, cross-referenced official counts, map, contact tracing and epidemiological measures.
Final toll
As of July 2, 2026 — source: WHO, Disease Outbreak News 611.
- 13 positive cases 12 confirmed · 1 probable
- 3 deaths Netherlands, Germany
- 0 cases off the vessel No confirmed case outside MV Hondius passengers and crew. No diffuse circulation documented to date (Stéphanie Rist, 12 May 2026 press conference).
- 149 people on board Passengers and crew
- 653 contacts followed up 317 high-risk · 336 low-risk · 33 territories
- 138 aboard the two key flights 100 traced · flights 4Z132 + KL592 on 25 April
Cross-referenced official counts
5 successive official publications. The gap is on classification (confirmed / probable / inconclusive), not on the case count.
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control — outbreak surveillance page 12 1 0 3 13 · source
By late May 2026, the three sources converged on a stable tally of <strong>13 cases (11 confirmed + 2 probable) and 3 deaths</strong>, across 7 countries (Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain, Canada). WHO (DON604, 28 May) and ECDC (26 May) now show the same count; Santé publique France (12 May) counted only the 11 confirmed cases, consistent once the 2 probable cases are added. Case definitions have been harmonised (confirmed = ANDV by PCR and/or serology). Reminder: American Case 10, initially announced positive on 11 May, was reclassified negative on 14 May (UNMC Omaha + CDC); no American national is positive to date. No new cases or deaths since late May, but WHO and ECDC stress that further cases remain possible among returned passengers, given the long incubation of Andes virus (up to 42 days). On 2 July 2026 WHO also reclassified a probable case from Tristan da Cunha as confirmed: the split moves from 11+2 to 12+1, with the total and death toll unchanged.
Contact tracing — key flights
Progress in identifying passengers on the two flights where exposure to a confirmed case was documented (25 April 2026), at the point the outbreak was closed.
Sources: Airlink / Carte Blanche for 4Z132; KLM News + GGD Kennemerland for KL592. WHO recorded a total of 653 contacts identified across 33 countries, territories and areas, all of whom completed follow-up.
Incubation window — closed
Disembarkation at Tenerife on May 10, 2026 marked the last possible exposure on board. The maximum Andes virus incubation window, 42 days, therefore closed on 21 June 2026 with no further cases appearing.
Date after which no further on-board exposure is possible. The maximum incubation window (42 days) is the upper bound used in the French decree of 11 May 2026 and in international protocols (WHO, CDC). CDC — Hantavirus. It is the completion of this 42-day follow-up by every identified contact that grounded WHO's end-of-outbreak declaration: "The completion of the 42-day follow-up period for all identified contacts without further detection of additional secondary cases demonstrates effective interruption of transmission and confirms outbreak containment."
Cluster mathematics
A closed cluster allows precise measurements that large-scale epidemics do not.
Below influenza in a closed community (20-40%), consistent with Andes episodes in confined settings (Epuyén 2018-2019). Varies with the denominator: 6.1% over 181 (including those disembarked), 3.9% over 285 (max capacity).
CFR is very noisy at 13 cases (±1 death = ±8 pts). WHO records 23% in its final toll. Consistent with the Andes historical range but at the low end, likely thanks to rapid hospital care (Bagotville, Gómez Ulla, Düsseldorf, Zurich, a Paris hospital) and ECMO availability.
| Case | Symp. | PCR | Delay |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 — FR | 10 May | 11 May | 1 d |
| 10 — US | 9 May | 11 May | 2 d |
| 7 — CH | 28 Apr | 3 May | 5 d |
| 5 — physician | 30 Apr | 6 May | 6 d |
| 6 — guide | 28 Apr | 6 May | 8 d |
| 3 — UK | 22 Apr | 3 May | 11 d |
Delay dropped sharply between the earliest cases (at sea, samples to be shipped) and the latest ones (rapid repatriation). Beyond 11 days, hantavirus PCR sensitivity drops: cases without documented PCR remained classified as probable until the June-July reclassification.
Sources: WHO, ECDC, SpF counts · per-case dates · comparison CFRs: WHO Ebola, WHO Marburg, CDC Influenza, CDC Hantavirus. With 13 cases the cluster is statistically noisy: these are observations, not projections.
Map of the outbreak and contact tracing
Confirmed and probable cases in the MV Hondius outbreak, and countries that took part in contact tracing.
- Country with death
- Country with confirmed case
- Country under contact tracing
- Geographic location of death
- MV Hondius route (contamination)
- Evacuation flights 25 April (4Z132, KL592)
- Return to Rotterdam (disinfection)
Cases are counted by the patient's nationality. Saint Helena appears as the disembarkation point for the first body (24 April), but the Dutch deaths are attributed to the Netherlands in the toll. This map covers the archived outbreak only: the imported case of August 2026 is unrelated and appears on the home page.
Textual list equivalent
Countries with cases
- Netherlands — 3 case(s), 2 death(s)
- United Kingdom — 1 case(s)
- Germany — 1 case(s), 1 death(s)
- Switzerland — 1 case(s)
- France — 1 case(s)
- Spain — 2 case(s)
- Canada — 1 case(s)
Countries with contact tracing
- Belgium — 5 contacts
- France — 30 contacts
- Greece — 3 contacts
- Ireland — 4 contacts
- Poland — 6 contacts
- Portugal — 4 contacts
- Spain — 13 contacts
- Netherlands — 15 contacts
- United States — 41 contacts
- Canada — 2 contacts
- Turkey — 3 contacts
- Australia — 5 contacts
- New Zealand — 1 contacts
- Taiwan — 1 contacts
- Pitcairn — 1 contacts
- South Africa — 97 contacts
Going further
The per-case event detail is on the timeline. Cluster-by-cluster tracking with curves is on the clusters page. The measures taken by each country are detailed in the country protocols. The investigation into the source of the contamination and the vessel's status are on the ship page.
Final toll: WHO DON611 · ECDC.