Evacuation of rat virus cruise FINALLY under way despite furious protests from locals... but Americans are forced to wait on board

By LAUREN ACTON-TAYLOR, US NEWS REPORTER Published: 13:22, 10 May 2026 | Updated: 13:25, 10 May 2026 Passengers and crew have been evacuated from the cruise ship infected with a hantavirus outbreak and are in the process of being sent home, despite furious protests from locals.  Groups onboard the MV Hondius luxury cruise ship disembarked on Sunday after the vessel docked in Tenerife, and the week-long process to send the 147 passengers home began.  Ferries were seen carrying groups from the infected cruise ship at the Port of Granadilla to the island, where they were filed onto buses and transported to the airport. Government officials emphasized that the evacuated groups would have no contact with the public, despite reports that the passengers were not showing symptoms of the virus.  The World Health Organization recommended a 42-day quarantine for those onboard the boat, which saw its first confirmed case of the outbreak on May 2.  In an update on Friday, WHO confirmed that eight passengers no longer on the ship had fallen ill, with six of them confirmed to have contracted the hantavirus. Four remain hospitalized in South Africa, the Netherlands and Switzerland.  A suspected case in Germany tested negative, while a Spanish woman, who had flown on the same flight as a patient who later died from the virus, tested negative on Saturday. Before the boat evacuated, medical officials ran tests on those onboard the ship, Spain's Health Minister Mónica García said, CNN reported.  Groups onboard the MV Hondius luxury cruise ship disembarked on Sunday after the vessel docked in Tenerife, and the week-long process to send the 147 passengers home has begun In an update on Friday, WHO confirmed that eight passengers no longer on the ship had fallen ill, with six of them confirmed to have contracted the hantavirus. Four remain hospitalized in South Africa, the Netherlands and Switzerland Ferries were seen carrying groups from the infected cruise ship at the Port of Granadilla to the island, where they were filed onto buses and transported to the airport The US, Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands are some of the nations which will send aircrafts to return the passengers and crew members home  Three people - a Dutch couple and a German national- were reported to have died from the virus, a rare disease typically caused by exposure to infected rat waste, after the cruise ship left Argentina last month.  The US, Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands are some of the nations which will send aircrafts to return the passengers and crew members home.  'The sequence of disembarkation will be coordinated with arriving repartition flights,'  Oceanwide said.  According to CNN, the Centers for Disease Control in the United States announced 17 passengers onboard the infected ship will be taken to the University of Nebraska Medical Center.   They will then be allowed to return home and be monitored daily, the outlet reported.  No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.