17 May 2026, 11:36 Updated: 21m ago
The individual who tested positive is from Yukon
17 May 2026, 11:36 | Updated: 21m ago
Want LBC stories before everyone else? Set us as your Preferred Source on Google
The cruise ship ‘MV Hondius’ anchors in the port of Granadilla waiting to refuel and receive the necessary supplies to travel to the Netherlands, on 11 May.
Picture:
Europa Press Canarias via Getty Images
One Canadian has tested positive for hantavirus after leaving a luxury cruise ship hit by an outbreak of the Andes strain of the virus.
The individual, who was tested at a hospital in Victoria, B.C., on Vancouver Island, after developing mild symptoms, is one of four Canadians isolating on the island after leaving the MV Hondius, a Dutch luxury cruise ship, that departed Argentina on a polar expedition on April 1.
The group included two couples – one from Yukon and another from B.C. The individual who tested positive is from Yukon, officials said.
The Yukon couple is being tested in B.C. because that service is unavailable in the northern territory, said B.C. provincial health officer Bonnie Henry.
Henry said the four people had not come in contact with the public when they were transferred from their flight to Victoria.
Read more: Trump warns of ‘calm before the storm’ in AI-generated social media post
Passengers are screened with a temperature scanner before boarding a plane bound for Canada, after disembarking from the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius at the airport in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Sunday, May 10, 2026.
Picture:
AP Photo/Arturo Rodriguez
The person who tested positive is in stable condition, she said.
The Andes strain of hantavirus, identified in the outbreak on the cruise ship, can cause severe lung illness that can be fatal in up to 50 per cent of cases, according to the World Health Organisation.
Hantaviruses are a group of viruses that are usually spread by rodents, but in rare cases can be transmitted person to person.
Health authorities have said the risk of the virus spreading is low.