WHO Chief to Join Tenerife Response as Hantavirus Cruise Outbreak Sparks Global Monitoring

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is expected to arrive in Tenerife on Saturday as international authorities intensify efforts to manage the hantavirus outbreak linked to the cruise ship MV Hondius.

Spanish government sources said Tedros will join Spain’s health and interior ministers at a command center on the Canary Island to help coordinate the evacuation of passengers and oversee health surveillance measures ahead of the vessel’s arrival on Sunday.

The Dutch-flagged cruise ship, carrying around 150 passengers and crew, has been at the center of growing international concern after three passengers died and several others became ill during the voyage. The victims included a Dutch husband and wife and a German woman.

Health officials confirmed that those infected were carrying the Andes virus, the only known strain of hantavirus capable of spreading between humans in rare cases. The discovery prompted contact tracing efforts across several countries after passengers disembarked during earlier stops.

Despite the concerns, the WHO stressed Friday that the overall threat to the public remains low.

“This is a dangerous virus, but only to the person who’s really infected,” WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told reporters. He added that evidence from the ship suggested the virus was not spreading easily between passengers, even among people sharing cabins.

According to the WHO, six confirmed cases have been identified among eight suspected infections. No additional suspected cases remain onboard.

Authorities are also monitoring several passengers and contacts who may have been exposed during travel. A KLM flight attendant who had contact with an infected passenger later developed mild symptoms but tested negative for the virus.

The passenger involved was the wife of the first victim, who briefly boarded a Johannesburg-to-Netherlands flight on April 25 before being removed prior to departure. She later died in a South African hospital.

Spanish officials are also testing a woman in eastern Spain who developed symptoms after sitting two rows behind the infected passenger on that same flight. She remains isolated in hospital while awaiting results.

Singapore confirmed that two residents who had traveled aboard the MV Hondius tested negative but will remain in quarantine as a precaution.

The ship departed Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1 for an Atlantic voyage that included stops in remote South Atlantic islands and Cape Verde. Three suspected cases, including two crew members who later tested positive, were medically evacuated from Cape Verde to the Netherlands.

Passengers still onboard described calm conditions despite the outbreak. Travel YouTuber Kasem Ibn Hattuta said doctors had joined the vessel and passengers were following safety precautions, including wearing masks indoors and maintaining physical distance.

Spanish authorities said the ship will anchor offshore near Tenerife and will not dock directly at the port. Passengers are expected to be transferred by smaller boats before boarding special flights to their home countries.

Meanwhile, dock workers in Tenerife protested the arrival of the vessel, while British health authorities reported a suspected case on Tristan da Cunha, one of the world’s most isolated island communities.