On March 20, 2026, 70-year-old Leo and 69-year-old Mirjam Schilperoord from Haulerwijk, Netherlands, boarded the MV Hondius in Ushuaia, Argentina, for a 46-day cruise from Antarctica to the west coast of Africa.

Remote expedition cruises to destinations like Antarctica and the Arctic are booming, but the deadly hantavirus aboard MV Hondius is a reminder of unique risks.

All passengers and crew aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius have now been evacuated following an outbreak of hantavirus that left three people dead and several others infected, while health authorities continue monitoring passengers who have begun showing symptoms after returning home.

MOH says no hantavirus cases have been reported in Malaysia so far, but monitoring, ship sanitation inspections, and preparedness measures are being strengthened following the MV Hondius cluster.

One passenger is being held in the Bio Containment Unit while 15 others are monitored in the National Quarantine Unit on the UNMC campus.

MV Hondius passengers evacuated after 3 hantavirus deaths; Spain cleared them to return home under quarantine as WHO ruled out a Covid-like pandemic.

The hantavirus from the MV Hondius outbreak has been sequenced from samples taken from one of the infected individuals. The results confirm that it is the Andes strain, the most virulent and contagious,

A total of 21 crew members of MV Hondius are now in the Netherlands as of Tuesday, May 12, 2026, according to the Philippine Embassy in The Netherlands.