Human-to-human hantavirus strain confirmed in cruise passenger: South Africa

Cape Verdean police officers stand guard as crew members of an ambulance boat getting in hazmat suites preparing to head to the cruise ship MV Hondius, while stationary off the port of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, on May 6, 2026. [AFP]

The Andes strain of the hantavirus that is transmissible between humans has been confirmed in a passenger evacuated to South Africa from a stricken cruise ship, the health minister said Wednesday.

Three people from the cruise ship have died, one of them in Johannesburg after she was transferred on a commercial flight from the Atlantic island of Saint Helena.