Argentina Tracks MV Hondius Passengers After New Virus Spread
Argentina is trying to determine whether it was the source of a new virus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship, after passengers tested positive for the Andes virus and some have already returned home. The problem now stretches beyond one vessel: 23 passengers reportedly disembarked on Saint Helena on 23 April and later dispersed across several countries.
Three passengers have died, one passenger is in intensive care in a South African hospital, and three other passengers were evacuated from the ship on Wednesday. An anonymous passenger said in a phone interview with Spanish newspaper El País: "There are 23 people wandering around there, and until three days ago, no one had contacted them".
Argentina and the MV Hondius
The MV Hondius departed from Argentina and sailed to Antarctica. Argentine officials are trying to determine where infected passengers traveled in Argentina before boarding the Dutch-flagged cruise liner in Ushuaia, while the Argentine health ministry said there had been 101 hantavirus infections since June 2025.
Argentina sent genetic material from the Andes virus and testing equipment to Spain, Senegal, South Africa, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom on Wednesday. American passengers were being monitored in Georgia, California and Arizona, according to, and none of those passengers had shown signs of illness.
Saint Helena and passenger tracing
The World Health Organization said the first death on board, a 70-year-old Dutch man, happened on 11 April. His body was taken off the vessel nearly two weeks later at Saint Helena, and his 69-year-old wife traveled by plane from Saint Helena to South Africa and died at a hospital in Johannesburg on 26 April.
A third passenger, a German woman, died on 2 May. Before boarding, the Dutch couple went sightseeing in Ushuaia and traveled in Argentina, Uruguay and Chile, adding another route for investigators to follow as they trace contacts across countries.
Andes virus across borders
The Andes virus can cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a severe and often fatal lung disease, and the Argentine health ministry said hantavirus caused death in nearly a third of cases in the last year. The virus can incubate for between one and eight weeks, which means passengers may not show symptoms until after they have left the ship and crossed borders.
That leaves health authorities in Argentina, South Africa, Switzerland, the United States and several other countries working from the same narrow window: identify who was aboard, who left Saint Helena, and who might still develop symptoms after the voyage ended.
