The total number of confirmed and probable cases of hantavirus onboard the MV Hondius cruise ship has risen to 11, including two people confirmed to have died from the virus and one person who remains suspected to have died from the virus.
Passengers disembarked the cruise ship in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, to be transferred to charter flights back to their home countries.
On Monday, 16 American cruise ship passengers arrived at the University of Nebraska Medical Center; 15 are in the quarantine unit and one person who tested positive is in the biocontainment unit, officials said. Two other American cruise ship passengers were flown to Atlanta for "further assessment and care," officials said.
12 Dutch hospital staffers quarantined after treating hantavirus patient
Twelve staffers at a hospital in the Netherlands are under quarantine after treating a hantavirus patient, Dutch Health Minister Sophie Hermans told lawmakers.
“Strict procedures were followed there, but not the very strictest procedures that apply in the case of this hantavirus,” Hermans said.
“This concerns the taking of blood and the disposal of urine from the patient,” she said. "… The chance that staff were infected as a result is small, but because we know that we are dealing with a serious virus here, [the hospital officials] said we are erring on the side of caution. We know this is a drastic measure with a major impact, but we are taking it nonetheless.”
-ABC News’ Othon Leyva
9:51 AM EDT
Cruise ship passenger speaks out from quarantine
Jake Rosmarin is among the passengers quarantining in Nebraska after disembarking the MV Hondius cruise ship.
"I was relieved to get off the ship and have a plan in place, and they were treating us really, really well here, so I can't ask for anything more than that," Rosmarin told ABC News’ “Good Morning America” on Tuesday.
2:37
Hantavirus cruise ship passenger speaks out from quarantineJake Rosmarin speaks with “GMA” from Omaha, Nebraska, where he and other American passengers are quarantining after disembarking the MV Hondius cruise ship.
ABCNews.com
Rosmarin said he is not experiencing any symptoms and plans on remaining in quarantine for the next 42 days.
"I think that is the best decision that's for me and for my family, and I know that here, I'm in the best care possible," Rosmarin said, adding that his room in the quarantine unit has air conditioning, an exercise bike and he is receiving at least three meals a day. "I can't ask for any more than that."
'No sign' of 'larger outbreak,' WHO director-general says
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, stressed on Tuesday that “there is no sign that we're seeing the start of a larger outbreak.”
He said the process of offloading passengers from the cruise ship was successful and he opened up about the mental struggles those on board were facing.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus briefs the press on the recent hantavirus outbreak linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship during a joint press conference in Madrid, Spain, May 12, 2026.
Chema Moya/EPA/Shutterstock
“Almost 150 people from 23 countries were on this ship for weeks, in what must have been a very frightening situation. Even some of the passengers were facing mental breakdown,” he said at a news conference.
“There were some people around the world calling for the passengers to be contained on the ship for the full quarantine period. Our view was that it would have been inhumane and unnecessary,” he said.
Passengers of the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius wait to board buses after disembarking in the port of Granadilla de Abona on the island of Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands, May 11, 2026.
Jorge Guerrero/AFP via Getty Images
The director-general said that of the 11 reported cases, all are among the ship’s passengers and crew.
“There have been no deaths since May 2, when WHO was first informed of the cluster of cases,” he said. “All suspected and confirmed cases have been isolated and managed under strict medical supervision, minimizing any risk of further transmission.”
-ABC News’ Othon Leyva
8:50 AM EDT
12 US residents under monitoring by state health departments
Twelve U.S. residents are under monitoring by state health departments for hantavirus, according to officials. None of these 12 people have symptoms, officials said.
A passenger from the cruise ship MV Hondius, which was affected by a hantavirus outbreak, boards a plane to travel to the Netherlands, at Tenerife Sur airport, Canary Islands, Spain, May 11, 2026.
Pedro Nunes/Reuters
Seven of the 12 were cruise ship passengers who disembarked before the outbreak was declared: two are in Texas, two are in Georgia, one is in Virginia, one is in Arizona and one is in California.
The other five people were exposed to an infected individual during air travel, officials said. Two are in New Jersey, two are in Maryland and one is in California, officials said.
