Hantavirus Alert: Spanish Passenger Tests Positive on Cruise

Spain Adds 13th Hantavirus Case Linked to Cruise Ship

A man from Spain who had been aboard a cruise ship later found to carry hantavirus has now tested positive for the disease, raising Spain’s total linked cases to 13.
The patient was among 14 Spaniards who left the ship in Tenerife on May 10, after authorities first spotted a cluster of infections earlier that month. Three people have already died from the outbreak.

The Ministry of Health confirmed the new case during routine checks on contacts in preventive quarantine at Gomez Ulla Hospital in Madrid. The patient is now housed in the hospital’s High‑Level Isolation Unit, where doctors provide specialized care and strict biosafety protocols.

Officials emphasize that the detection occurred within an existing isolation system, so it does not change the overall risk for the general public or modify current response measures. The announcement followed a statement from the World Health Organization, which listed 12 cases linked to the cruise.

The ship carried about 150 people from nearly twenty‑four countries. It was forced to dock in the Canary Islands because of the outbreak, which had already caused two deaths and eight confirmed cases. All 14 Spanish nationals in quarantine are reported to be improving, with one former symptomatic patient now asymptomatic. Those who remain symptom‑free and test negative after 28 days may finish the mandatory 42‑day monitoring at home, with hospital quarantine ending around June 7.