Spain to "welcome" hantavirus cruise ship as dead passenger's contacts traced

World Spain agrees to "welcome" hantavirus cruise ship as WHO traces contacts of deceased passenger May 5, 2026 / 6:57 AM EDT / CBS/AP Add CBS News on Google Spain has agreed to "welcome" the cruise ship at the center of a rare hantavirus outbreak, with three people now dead after catching the illness onboard, according to the World Health Organization.The ship, with nearly 150 people aboard, had been awaiting help off the coast of Cape Verde in the Atlantic Ocean after the African island refused to let it dock over public health concerns. Besides the three fatalities – two of whom died on board and a third who died shortly after disembarking – there are four other suspected or confirmed cases of the virus, one of whom is a British national who was evacuated from the boat and is now in intensive care in South Africa, according to the WHO.The WHO says it suspects there has been some human-to-human transmission on the stricken ship, where passengers have been told to remain in their cabins as much as possible. It has also begun tracking down people who shared a flight with a 69-year-old passenger.The Dutch woman, whose husband died onboard two weeks earlier, got off the boat with "gastrointestinal symptoms" on April 24 and died two days later, after her condition "deteriorated during a flight to Johannesburg," the WHO said. "Contact tracing for passengers on the flight has been initiated," it added.On Tuesday, the WHO's epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention director, Maria Van Kerkhove, told journalists Spanish authorities "have said that they will welcome the ship to do a full investigation, a full epidemiologic investigation, full disinfection of the ship and of course ... assess the risk of the passengers that are actually on board."The agency said Tuesday that it's current plan is to evacuate two sick passengers to the Netherlands, then for the ship to continue on to Spain's Canary Islands. This aerial picture shows a general view of t...