{"id":695357,"date":"2026-05-26T18:05:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T18:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/695357\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T18:05:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T18:05:38","slug":"spanish-government-confirms-new-case-of-hantavirus-linked-to-cruise-ship-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/695357\/","title":{"rendered":"Spanish government confirms new case of hantavirus linked to cruise ship – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Spanish government said Monday that it has confirmed a new case of hantavirus<\/a> connected to the MV Hondius cruise ship that made headlines when three individuals died after contracting hantavirus<\/a>\u00a0during their voyage earlier this month.<\/p>\n

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Spain\u2019s Ministry of Health said that a new positive case of hantavirus<\/a>\u00a0has been confirmed in one of the individuals remaining in preventive quarantine at G\u00f3mez Ulla Hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt corresponds to a close contact identified within the epidemiological follow-up activated after the initial detection of the outbreak,\u201d the Health Ministry added.<\/p>\n

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The Health Ministry said that the affected person had been under clinical surveillance and isolation since their admission, in accordance with the protocols established by the Early Warning and Rapid Response System.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe positive case has been detected during the periodic diagnostic checks carried out on the contacts under follow-up,\u201d the Health Ministry wrote in a follow-up statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Following the diagnostic confirmation, the patient has been transferred to the high-level isolation unit in G\u00f3mez Ulla Hospital, where he will remain admitted under specialized medical supervision and with the biosafety measures provided for this type of case, according to the Health Ministry<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHealth authorities emphasize that the detection of the case has occurred within the already activated isolation and control system, so it does not alter the risk situation for the general population nor change the epidemiological response measures currently in place,\u201d the Health Ministry added<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The patient is one of the 14 Spanish nationals who were aboard the MV Hondius and who has been in quarantine in Madrid at the G\u00f3mez Ulla Central Defense Hospital since May 10.<\/p>\n

The patient is the second Spaniard aboard the MV Hondius to test positive for hantavirus.<\/p>\n

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On May 12, Spain\u2019s health ministry announced<\/a>\u00a0that a Spanish passenger evacuated from the cruise ship at the centre of the hantavirus outbreak had tested positive for the virus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe patient who yesterday tested provisionally positive has been confirmed as positive for hantavirus. As for the rest of the people who remained under study at G\u00f3mez Ulla Hospital, the definitive tests have confirmed a total of 13 negative results,\u201d Spain\u2019s Health Ministry confirmed in a post on X at the time<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The Health Ministry said the patient had a \u201clow-grade fever and mild respiratory symptoms, although he\/she is currently stable and without any evident clinical deterioration.\u201d<\/p>\n

The passenger with the first confirmed case of hantavirus was quarantined at a military hospital in Madrid, where the 13 other Spanish nationals evacuated who had tested negative for the virus, are also staying.<\/p>\n

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On Friday, Spain\u2019s Ministry of Health updated its hantavirus protocol.<\/p>\n

\u201cContacts who have not presented symptoms and maintain negative PCR results during the first 28 days of hospital quarantine may continue monitoring at their residences until completing the established 42 days,\u201d the Health Ministry announced in a post on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tedros Abhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the WHO, said he had received a message on Saturday from MV Hondius Captain Jan Dobrogowski, who had finally left the cruise ship.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe remains without hantavirus symptoms until today. So far, 12 cases in total have been reported to @WHO, and three deaths<\/a>. No deaths have been reported since May 2,\u201d Ghebreyesus wrote on Saturday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the passengers and crew are now in quarantine with close monitoring to receive care if need be. I\u2019m deeply grateful for Jan\u2019s cooperation and leadership as he navigated the ship through an extraordinary and scary journey. Thank you, dear Jan, for steering your passengers towards safety,\u201d Ghebreyesus added.<\/p>\n

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In an update shared on Tuesday<\/a>, Oceanwide Expeditions, the Dutch company that operates the MV Hondius cruise ship, said that the vessel\u2019s planned departure from the port of Rotterdam to Vlissingen has been delayed \u201cfollowing advice from GGD Rotterdam for additional cleaning procedures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe remaining crew members from the original voyage were escorted to quarantine facilities on Saturday evening. Captain Jan Dobrogowski was transported to Poland via specialized transport. Where appropriate, Dutch crew members have returned to their homes for home quarantine as per established protocols,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n

\u201cGGD Rotterdam, in cooperation with Oceanwide Expeditions, wants to ensure that the vessel is ready to be safely returned to service. Based on their inspection findings, GGD has advised additional cleaning. Following completion of this work, GGD will conduct a final inspection before the vessel can depart from Rotterdam,\u201d the company added.<\/p>\n

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Oceanwide Expeditions said that at this stage, all voyages from June 13 onwards will proceed as scheduled and that no further disruption to MV Hondius\u2019 sailing schedule is expected.<\/p>\n

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The news of the delayed departure comes a week after Oceanwide Expeditions said that indications \u201cstrongly suggest\u201d the virus was introduced prior to embarkation<\/a> and \u201cdid not originate from the vessel itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

In\u00a0a statement last week<\/a>, Oceanwide Expeditions CEO Remi Bouysset said that the indications are based on \u201cthe medical and epidemiological information currently available, including guidance from WHO experts and relevant health authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cInvestigations remain ongoing regarding the exact location where the virus may have been contracted. At this stage, there is no indication that the source of infection was linked to the vessel\u2019s condition or to Oceanwide Expeditions\u2019 onboard operations,\u201d Bouysset said.<\/p>\n

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Bouysset added that Oceanwide Expeditions will ensure that MV Hondius returns to the field \u201cfully prepared and with the highest possible standards of safety and operational readiness, with the continuation of our Arctic season currently planned for 13 June.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oceanwide Expeditions\u2019 focus now is on \u201csupporting those affected, allowing teams to recover, completing the remaining procedures responsibly, and preparing for the next phase.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hantavirus is mainly spread by contact with rodents or their urine, saliva or droppings, particularly when the material is disturbed and becomes airborne, posing a risk of inhalation,\u00a0according to the Canadian government<\/a>. But the\u00a0hantavirus that has caused the current outbreak, called the Andes virus, may be able to spread between people in rare cases.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Spanish government said Monday that it has confirmed a new case of hantavirus connected to the MV…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":695358,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[49,48,241672,84,3275],"class_list":["post-695357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-hantavirus","tag-health","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=695357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/695358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=695357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=695357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=695357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}