{"id":49692,"date":"2026-05-18T04:58:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T04:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/49692\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T04:58:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T04:58:12","slug":"canada-confirms-hantavirus-case-linked-to-cruise-ship-outbreak-that-has-killed-three-passengers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/49692\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada confirms hantavirus case linked to cruise ship outbreak that has killed three passengers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canadian health officials on Sunday confirmed that one of four Canadians who returned from the MV Hondius cruise ship, the subject of an international Andes hantavirus outbreak<\/a>, tested positive for hantavirus. Three people connected to the outbreak have died.<\/p>\n

The Public Health<\/a> Agency of Canada confirmed the positive test after British Columbia\u2019s top public health officer previously described the case as a “presumptive positive.”<\/p>\n

“One individual\u2019s sample was confirmed positive for hantavirus,” the agency said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Officials said additional testing will be conducted at a national laboratory. It was not immediately clear whether that testing was for confirmation, strain characterization or another purpose.<\/p>\n

Cruise Ship Passenger Describes Uncertainty After 3 Deaths Amid Hantavirus Probe<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Passengers<\/p>\n

Experts say cruise outbreaks get more attention due to public reporting rules, but many travelers still plan to sail as booked.<\/p>\n

(Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The development comes as global health officials continue monitoring the rare hantavirus outbreak tied<\/a> to the MV Hondius, which has sickened multiple passengers.<\/p>\n

Read On The Fox News App<\/a><\/p>\n

As of May 13, the World Health Organization<\/a> said 11 cases had been identified in connection with the cruise outbreak, including eight confirmed cases, two probable cases and one inconclusive case. Those figures included three deaths. The Associated Press later reported that the Canadian confirmation brought the number of people from the ship who had tested positive to 10.<\/p>\n

Canadian health officials said four Canadians returned home from the MV Hondius, though only one has tested positive for the virus.<\/p>\n

Rare Hantavirus Human-to-human Transmission Suspected On Luxury Cruise Ship Where 3 Have Died<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Passengers<\/p>\n

The rare Andes virus, which was linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship outbreak, is the only known hantavirus strain that has the capability to spread from person to person, usually through prolonged close contact.<\/p>\n

The confirmed patient and a traveling companion \u2014 identified as a Yukon couple in their 70s \u2014 returned from the cruise together. The companion later tested negative, officials said.<\/p>\n

A third person in their 70s from Vancouver<\/a> Island remains in isolation, along with a British Columbia resident in their 50s.<\/p>\n

So far, no confirmed U.S. cases tied to the cruise ship have been reported, though WHO said as of May 13 that one U.S.-repatriated passenger had inconclusive laboratory results and was undergoing retesting.<\/p>\n

Hantavirus Deaths On Cruise Ship Highlight Dangers Of Rodent-borne Disease<\/a><\/p>\n

\"View<\/p>\n

Pictured is the MV Hondius, the cruise ship tied to a hantavirus outbreak after a stop in Argentina that left three passengers dead.<\/p>\n

Last week, however, health officials in Ontario County, New York, announced they were investigating a suspected locally acquired hantavirus case<\/a> unrelated to the cruise ship.<\/p>\n

The Ontario County Public Health Department said there was no risk to the general public. Officials also said the strain typically seen in the United States is not known to spread from person to person.<\/p>\n

The outbreak linked to the MV Hondius began after the Dutch cruise ship, carrying 147 passengers and crew members, departed Argentina on April 1<\/a> for a South Atlantic voyage.<\/p>\n

Trapped Cruise Ship Passenger Shares Update On Cleanliness Of Ship Amid Deadly Hantavirus Outbreak<\/a><\/p>\n

The outbreak has prompted heightened precautions internationally, including in the Netherlands, where Radboud University Medical Center quarantined 12 staff members<\/a> after officials said a hantavirus patient\u2019s blood and urine were not handled under the strictest protocols recommended for the virus strain.<\/p>\n

The outbreak has also sparked comparisons to the coronavirus<\/a> pandemic. However, Fox News senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel previously told Fox News Digital there is “no comparison.”<\/p>\n

He noted hantavirus is difficult to spread.<\/p>\n

\"masked<\/p>\n

Passengers evacuated from the hantavirus-stricken Hondius cruise ship walk with their belongings after disembarking at Eindhoven Air Base, Netherlands, on May 12.<\/p>\n

“It’s not airborne … in terms of respiratory droplets hanging in the air,” he said. “It’s very difficult to transmit.”<\/p>\n

While coronavirus “moved in the direction of humans in a significant way,” hantavirus has not, except for “very rare” cases of human-to-human transmission, he added.<\/p>\n

The World Health Organization has assessed the risk to the global population as low, while noting that current evidence suggests subsequent human-to-human transmission may have occurred on board. Andes virus is the only hantavirus known to have documented person-to-person transmission, though such spread is considered rare.<\/p>\n

Click Here To Download The Fox News App<\/a><\/p>\n

Siegel also noted hantavirus cases have been reported in the United States for decades, though they remain “very rare.”<\/p>\n

Fox News Digital\u2019s Brittany Miller and Angelica Stabile, along with The Associated Press, contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

Original article source: Canada confirms hantavirus case linked to cruise ship outbreak that has killed three passengers<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Canadian health officials on Sunday confirmed that one of four Canadians who returned from the MV Hondius cruise…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49693,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[17,22241,5675,15795,15798,12653,12116,21993],"class_list":["post-49692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-canada","tag-canadian-health-officials","tag-confirmed-cases","tag-cruise-ship","tag-hantavirus","tag-passengers","tag-public-health-agency-of-canada","tag-world-health-organization"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49692\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}