Canadian Cruise Ship Passenger Suspected of Having Hantavirus

According to AFP, Sunday (17/5/2026), the patient is one of four Canadian citizens on board a ship infected with hantavirus, which set sail on April 1 from Argentina towards the Atlantic Ocean.

The Public Health Agency of Canada said that officials from the western province of British Columbia “reported that one of the four high-risk individuals who are self-isolating and being monitored for symptoms has been provisionally diagnosed with Andes hantavirus infection.”

The Andes strain of hantavirus is the only strain known to spread between humans.

Globally, the death toll remains at three people.

The patient and their partner reported experiencing mild symptoms. They were taken to hospital and remain in isolation.

“As a precaution, a third individual who was staying in a safe shelter for isolation has been moved to hospital for assessment and testing,” the statement said.

Test results to confirm hantavirus infection are expected within the next few days.

“The overall risk to the general population in Canada from the Andes hantavirus outbreak associated with the MV Hondius cruise ship remains low at this time,” the public health agency stressed.

There is no vaccine or specific treatment for hantavirus, but health officials have rejected comparisons with the Covid-19 pandemic.