Spain-Hantavirus/Cruise Ship
Spain-Hantavirus/Cruise Ship
Dateline : May 10, 2026/File
Location : Spain
Duration : 1'36
Beijing, China - May 10, 2026 (CCTV Video News Agency - No access Chinese mainland
1. Screenshot of social media post of Spanish Health Ministry
Beijing, China - May 8, 2026 (Courtesy of MV Hondius operator Oceanwide Expeditions - No access Chinese mainland)
2. Images of MV Hondius cruise ship
FILE: Madrid, Spain - April 9, 2026 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
3. Spanish national flag
4. Various of traffic, pedestrians
FILE: Madrid, Spain - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
5. Various of Cybele Palace
Beijing, China - May 10, 2026 (CCTV Video News Agency - No access Chinese mainland)
6. Screenshot of World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus' letter to Spanish people
FILE: Geneva, Switzerland - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
7. WHO headquarters
FILE: Geneva, Switzerland - Date Unknown (UNifeed - No access Chinese mainland/Not for sale)
8. Various of man entering World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters, WHO logo
FILE: California, USA - Sept 16, 2012 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
9. Various of Hantavirus warning poster
FILE: Amsterdam, Netherlands - March 16, 2017 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
10. Dutch national flag
FILE: Amsterdam, Netherlands - Nov 5, 2020 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
11. Amsterdam Canal; buildings
FILE: Berlin, Germany - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
12. Various of Reichstag building, national flags of Germany
FILE: Paris, France - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
13. French national flag
FILE: Paris, France - April 28, 2024 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
14. Eiffel Tower, boats on river
FILE: Brussels, Belgium - Nov 14, 2023 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
15. Various of Royal Palace of Brussels, national flag of Belgium
FILE: Dublin, Ireland - Sept 29, 2018 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
16. Irish National Flag
17. Buildings
FILE: London, Britain - Nov 17, 2018 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
18. Union Jack
London, UK - May 1, 2026 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
19. Various of Palace of Westminster, pedestrians
Several European countries are dispatching aircraft to evacuate their citizens from the Dutch-flagged cruise ship MV Hondius, which has been hit by a hantavirus outbreak, Spanish authorities said on Saturday.
The vessel, carrying 147 people, is headed for Spain's Canary Islands. It is expected to arrive between 04:00 and 06:00 local time Sunday (03:00-05:00 GMT) at Tenerife, the largest and most populous of the Canary Islands. Three passengers have died and five others have been confirmed infected since the outbreak emerged after the ship departed from Cape Verde.
Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands will send planes to bring home their nationals, Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska Gomez announced on Saturday. The European Union will provide two additional aircraft for other EU citizens on board. The United States and the United Kingdom are arranging contingency plans for non-EU nationals without air service options.
According to British media reports, the 22 British nationals on board, including 19 passengers and three crew members, will undergo a 45‑day quarantine upon returning to the UK on Sunday. They will be transferred to a hospital dormitory complex in Merseyside, northwest England.
The UK Health Security Agency confirmed earlier on Friday that two British citizens having contracted hantavirus are receiving treatment in the Netherlands and South Africa respectively.
World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Saturday reassured the residents on the island of Tenerife that the public health risk remained low.
In an open letter to Canary Islands residents, Tedros acknowledged local concerns but stressed, "This is not another COVID."
"The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low," he said, adding that WHO experts and medical supplies were already onboard the vessel.
Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia said Spanish passengers will disembark first. All passengers and medical transfer personnel must wear protective gear. The bodies of the deceased, along with their luggage and some crew members, will remain on board. The ship will then sail to the Netherlands for full disinfection.
Garcia said that after three suspected cases or close contacts were identified on Friday, no new suspected cases have emerged in Spain, and the risk to the general public remains low.