Rat virus cruise ship crew member is hospitalised after testing positive for hantavirus days after doomed vessel docked in the Netherlands

By OLIVIA ALLHUSEN, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER Published: 15:23, 22 May 2026 | Updated: 15:24, 22 May 2026 A crew member aboard the doomed 'rat virus' cruise ship has been hospitalised after testing positive for hantavirus just days after the vessel docked in the Netherlands. Dutch health authorities confirmed the new case after the infected crew member was repatriated from Tenerife, Spain, where passengers and staff from the MV Hondius had disembarked following the outbreak. The ship was struck by an outbreak of the deadly Andean virus strain in April, the only form of hantavirus known to spread from human to human. According to the World Health Organisation, the crew member had been in quarantine in the Netherlands since leaving the vessel before later testing positive for the virus. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: 'The Netherlands today confirmed a new case in a crew member who disembarked in Tenerife, was repatriated to the Netherlands and has been in quarantine ever since.' Dutch public health officials said the patient was admitted to hospital 'as a precaution' and placed in isolation. The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) said: 'The Andean virus was detected in a person who was in quarantine in the Netherlands. 'The patient has since been admitted to the hospital as a precaution and is in isolation.' The latest information brings the total number of suspected and confirmed cases linked to the outbreak to 12, including three deaths. The cruise ship MV Hondius, affected by a hantavirus outbreak, at the port of Granadilla de Abona, Tenerife, Spain, May 11 A crew member aboard the doomed 'rat virus' cruise ship has been hospitalised after testing positive for hantavirus just days after the vessel docked in the Netherlands. Pictured: Passengers are sprayed with disinfectant by Spanish government officials before boarding a plane Mr Ghebreyesus said no further deaths have been reported since May 2, when the WHO was first notified of the outbreak. More than 600 contacts across multiple countries are still being monitored, with health officials continuing to trace a small number of high-risk cases. It comes after a rat virus survivor revealed how the potentially fatal disease left her in a coma fighting for her life and suffering long-term effects years later. Jennifer Benewiat, 43, told the Daily Mail she experienced ICU psychosis and had to learn how to walk and shower again after coming down with hantavirus nearly 16 years ago. Mother-of-three Benewiat, of Kansas, contracted the illness in December 2010 over Christmas. After driving an hour home to Wichita from Hutchinson, she passed out on her doorstep. This led to her eventually being hospitalised with doctors later telling her that she might die. Benewiat was placed on a ventilator for 10 days, causing her body to be paralyzed from the neck down. She does not remember anything during those days in hospital and had to be taught 'all the things a normal person does in a day' again during her recovery from the virus, which has a 40 percent fatality rate. Benewiat told the Daily Mail that she had 'a little bit of a trauma kind of response' when she heard about the hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship that has left three dead and put America on alert as it monitors patients with potential symptoms. Benewiat said she still feels the effects of hantavirus in her daily life, despite having overcome the illness more than a decade ago. 'I have muscle weakness and numbness and tingling in my extremities,' she told the Daily Mail. She is now able to do everything she did before but admitted: 'I just can't do them as quickly as I used to do. 'Doing housework and stuff like that, I have to take breaks more often than I used to. 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.