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News & Current Events May 5, 2026 at 8:56 PM

Cruise ship with hantavirus outbreak to sail to Canary Islands

Posted by VaginaBurner69


Hantavirus strain that spreads between humans found in cruise ship passengers
BBC News
Hantavirus strain that spreads between humans found in cruise ship passengers
South Africa's health ministry said the Andes strain of the virus was found in two confirmed cases linked to the outbreak.

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Dwayla 5 days ago +2885
Send Dr Oz, Dr Phil and RFK Jr, I'm sure they can help.
2885
sapntaps 5 days ago +571
We don’t want RFK Jr to have sex with the virus and create a new virus. I’m buying puts on this happening on polymarket
571
SYNTHLORD 5 days ago +74
I spoke with RFK Jr in a dream and he said you need to build up an immunity by eating mouse shit. Then I asked the real RFK Jr what he thought of my dream, and he said “you ca-a-a-n commu-u-nicate with me via the e-e-e-thereal drea-a-m world. Ple-ease be sure to-o eat o-o-nly o-o-rganic mouse shi-i-i-t”
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Ahelex 5 days ago +66
>We don’t want RFK Jr to have sex with the virus and create a new virus. The Hanta brain worm!
66
Thunderclone_1 5 days ago +26
Like his last brain worm, it will starve to death.
26
RFKs_brain_worm 5 days ago +20
Very much alive. Don’t mind the username.
20
FaderJockey2600 5 days ago +6
I don’t think the worm is the part that died…
6
Decent-Ganache7647 5 days ago +21
I just spit out my wine. Thanks. 
21
BubbleThinker 5 days ago +7
Save that spittage. Dr. Kennedy needs to get a closer look at it.
7
hot_to_trotsky666 5 days ago +11
Maybe this is how Nurgle is created.
11
MrBabbs 5 days ago +10
Nurgle and Trump do share some physical similarities, but doesn't Nurgle actually care about his subjects in some strange, twisted way?
10
OkTouch5699 5 days ago +6
The picture i have of this birus hanging out in saunas and pools with blue jeans on....
6
cozycorner 5 days ago +6
This needs to be a South Park episode. Not the actual terrible situation—the RFK thing.
6
Ok-Grand-1492 5 days ago +2
Maybe he'll just try to cut off the viruses p****? Or is that only something he does to things that are already dead when he finds them.
2
CarlySimonSays 5 days ago +3
Why couldn't he just get into really creepy amateur taxidermy and leave us all alone? That's clearly where his passions would lie if he knew it was an option! Get the man a taxidermy book and let him get super into recreating his own strange Victorian-esque collections of dead stuff. (In Ann Cleeves' "Vera" detective books and TV show, Vera needs to clear out the room of horribly-done bird taxidermy that her late distant father obsessed over instead of tending to her after his wife/her mother died. HMMM. I feel like Vera's dad was basically RFK Jr. without money (ok and isolated in the north of England). Her dad is even a jerk who goes out stealing rare birds' eggs for his collection! RFK Jr. would probably love that, being entitled, selfish, and horrible.) The Kennedys should just sequester their traumatized, brain-damaged-via-drugs weirdo in a cottage in their compound and leave cartons of broken eggshells on his stoop to fiddle with. Maybe they could get him a cat so he can play with any dead birds or rodents it leaves in front of the door.
3
VaginaBurner69 5 days ago +23
RFK will either give the virus some cocaine to distract it, or he’ll call it ‘natural selection’ and be done with it.
23
doomeddeath 5 days ago +3
RFK would snort that thing off of a toilet if it could be
3
pomonamike 5 days ago +18
RFK jr will undoubtedly eat all the canaries.
18
VaginaBurner69 5 days ago +4
Brain worm’s gotta eat 🤷‍♂️
4
metataichou 5 days ago +5
Dont forget Joe Rogan
5
MarketingSpecial6604 5 days ago +2
Don't send RFK, he will snatch their penises.
2
velorae 5 days ago +3
Lmaooooo. But for real, they shouldn’t let it dock.
3
DogVacuum 5 days ago +3
“He need some milk!” - RFK Jr
3
Rodinsprogeny 5 days ago +2
How dare you suggest that Trump isn't the man for this job. Treason!
2
Samwellikki 5 days ago +2
Who do you think told them to use Canaries?
2
LUMLTPM 5 days ago +1
Is Dr Phil even a real doctor?
1
eric_ts 5 days ago +856
Madagascar has closed their ports.
856
malibuklw 5 days ago +293
As long as you can get to Greenland before they close you can still win this
293
thefunkybassist 5 days ago +50
Just silently get Norway first and wait for that ship!
50
zephyrtr 5 days ago +61
Shut. Down. Everything.
61
GrinchWhoStoleEaster 5 days ago +4
No need. Hantavirus doesn't work this way. - Hantavirus itself isn't necessarily that bad. In fact, you may not know you even have it. What gets you is if it progresses to a condition called Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome. HPS has a 30-40% kill rate and those who do survive often have heart damage. - Hantavirus doesn't spread like COVID or the flu. It's not an airborn , person to person pathogen. Those people got that because that ship is infested with mice, to be 100% honest, and somehow mouse urine/droppings got disturbed and they breathed it in. They can't cause some kind of a mass outbreak if they disembark. And, given the mortality rate I described above, it is IMPERATIVE they disembark somewhere with and ICU available... Being ON the ship is how you spread this thing, not allowing the infected to come ashore.
4
IANALbutIAMAcat 5 days ago +9
Actually this strain is h2h communicable and they believe it was brought on to the ship by patient zero
9
Symetrie 4 days ago +6
did hantavirus write this
6
GrinchWhoStoleEaster 3 days ago +2
No, I'm Human Metaneumovirus. But I dated Hantavirus in college. She's a bad girl. :3
2
AmusingVegetable 5 days ago +5
It can have an incubation period of 6-8 weeks, so they could have gotten infected before boarding.
5
AnotherBoojum 4 days ago +1
Pepperidge Farm remembers that meme
1
SwoopzB 5 days ago +70
Funny, reading about this the other day inspired me to boot up Plague Inc. for the first time since…. Covid. 🤔. Anyway, I won easily, still got it, get bent Madagascar.
70
unicornviolence 5 days ago +22
I think I’ll check out the symptoms and do a Plague Inc run starting in Argentina and see how this plays out.
22
ToNoMoCo 5 days ago +4
don't you mean how it "*plagues* out"? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
4
Pledgeofmalfeasance 5 days ago +4
I see you have suffered as I have suffered
4
[deleted] 5 days ago +1
[deleted]
1
MidNCS 5 days ago +9
It's a meme about the game Plauge Inc.
9
patrickhenrypdx 5 days ago +266
Track the ship here: [https://www.cruisemapper.com/?imo=9818709](https://www.cruisemapper.com/?imo=9818709)
266
Mr_IT 5 days ago +281
It’s really not THAT big of a cruise ship. I can’t even imagine the terror every second waiting to see if you get sick.
281
Ok-Grand-1492 5 days ago +224
Especially with how crazy hantavirus works. The incubation period can be up to two months, and it has such a high mortality rate when the symptoms finally do hit.
224
theTinTank 5 days ago +89
So, I’m dumb. Can the passengers that don’t appear sick be tested once they’re off the ship or is it just a wait and see thing?
89
donkey2471 5 days ago +173
Looks like they can be tested but seems like they are all going to be quarantined and the full ship disinfected
173
littlebittydoodle 5 days ago +74
Imagine being on the next cruise after the ship has been “disinfected.” It’s so damn big, with so many rooms and crevices, I would never trust it to be disinfected after this.
74
CanuckianOz 5 days ago +43
Viruses do “die” after not being in a suitable environment for a certain period. Hantavirus appears to be able to survive 2-3 days.
43
pepperino132 5 days ago +13
I'm guessing the company will have to rename, re-register it (etc.) so the next guests don't even know... Which frankly I can't blame them for
13
melody_magical 5 days ago +202
Thankfully Spain and the WHO are doing it, not 🍊 and 🧠🪱
202
MedicalDisscharge 5 days ago +34
I'll have you know brain's worms are much more intelligent than the government
34
Four_beastlings 5 days ago +19
Fernando Simon is in charge of this and his management of ebola was flawless imo. Sad because they killed the dog of one of the infected, but I guess it was better to err on the side of caution.
19
MadCapHorse 5 days ago +15
Why not disembark, quarantine the passengers for a month, and then sink the boat? It’s obviously incredibly disruptive to the lives of everyone on board, but surely every nation could chip in a little so we don’t have a global outbreak, right? That’s in everyone’s best interest
15
MrJaffaCake 5 days ago +12
Dont give them any ideas. The last time every nation chipped in there were nukes involved.
12
misszoei 5 days ago +2
This is exactly what I think will end up happening. No one will want to take responsibility for it otherwise.
2
donkeyrocket 5 days ago +2
Unless the ship is unrecoverably infested with rats, there’s no need to destroy it. Hantavirus doesn’t live very long. Or at least not so long that the ship would be condemned. I don’t think the ship is so riddled with rats it couldn’t be dealt with. We’d be hearing reports of constant rat sightings if it was that infested.
2
Iaragnyl 5 days ago +2
Even if there were plenty of rats, it shouldn’t be hard to exterminate them when there is no human on board anymore. I don’t know the effort it would take to desinfect everything after but I would assume a new ship is many times more expensive.
2
Ok-Grand-1492 5 days ago +36
They could be tested for it once off the ship, they're just still all stuck on the ship for now. Hopefully Spain and the Canary Islands can get the logistics sorted to evacuate everyone when they arrive.
36
LasVegasNerd28 5 days ago +12
WHO was spotted on board like earlier today or yesterday, hopefully they took test samples.
12
theTinTank 5 days ago +6
That’s good at least
6
liittle_dove7 5 days ago +14
Two MONTHS?! Omg
14
Blagnet 5 days ago +78
I used to work in the tourism industry with some of these luxury arctic cruises. Some of them (the even smaller boats) started at $30k a ticket! I gotta say, I have never seen so many enormous diamond rings, lol, as when one of those cruises docked. Those were, like, 25 person cruises, if I remember.  This boat looks like it's one of the more affordable small-scale arctic luxury cruise liners. It's got 150 person capacity. Google says tickets are in the $6-25k range, depending on the length of trip. It says, Antarctica trips start at $10k. Pretty affordable, as far as luxury arctic cruises go, in my experience! 
78
fellow_enthusiast 5 days ago +4
Probably gonna be a lot cheaper on their next cruise!
4
patrickhenrypdx 5 days ago +58
Yeah, not one of the huge cruise ships. On these small ones, everybody is in contact with everybody else, except for maybe the crew in the engine room. My former boss took a tour in the artic and re-encountered another person he'd met on a previous *antarctic* tour ...it's a small world for these environmental tourists.
58
sirSADABY 5 days ago +3
This shows it not in the canary islands?
3
patrickhenrypdx 5 days ago +7
Correct. Apparently the ship was planning to go there but this morning's news reports are saying that the Canary Islands governor doesn't want the ship.
7
dolphin37 5 days ago +431
there’s zombies on it now arent there
431
candygram4mongo 5 days ago +76
I'd watch that movie.
76
jen_17 5 days ago +54
Sequel to snakes on a plane. Zombies on a boat.
54
zephyrtr 5 days ago +9
I thought the sequel to Snakes on a Plane was Snakes on a Train?
9
LonelyNovel1985 5 days ago +7
Don't forget the prequel, Snakes on my Brain.
7
Kapowpow 5 days ago +3
I prefer the spinoff, snakes go insane
3
colantor 5 days ago +1
Before i scrolled down i said, ive had it with these mother fuckin zombies on this mother fuckin boat! Glad to see you also thought of that.
1
leviathynx 5 days ago +4
You bout to live it homie.
4
Doesdeadliftswrong 5 days ago +2
The cancelled Resident Evil on the Gameboy Color took place on a cruise ship. I always thought that would be an awesome idea for a RE game especially if it had updated graphics. I can't believe they haven't pursued that idea.
2
sandysanBAR 5 days ago +6
Do you WANT zombies? Cause that is how you get Zombies!
6
VaginaBurner69 5 days ago +11
No that’s just Melania on a cruise to take a break from the Donald.
11
ifurmothronlyknw 5 days ago +170
We need someone on the ship to do an ama
170
Socketz11 5 days ago +244
I woke up this am to the group text with my brother and sister freaking out, turns out my cousin is on this ship. He isnt sick, but it takes a long time for symptoms to show up. I dont have any inside info, and I haven't heard from him. But crazy since I have been following the story and saying to myself "well they are all f'ed" and their ship reminded me of the Airplane in the show Station 11. But I find out one of my family is really on the ship, and now I feel guilty thinking about it that way.
244
Mesapholis 5 days ago +10
It’s possible the crew is under orders to limit uncontrolled communication - it’s bad PR if hypochondriac (or actually, really scare and sick people start communicating their fears and worries live) So maybe they cut wifi on board
10
Venture_compound 5 days ago +6
Damn a Station 11 reference
6
pungen 5 days ago +55
I feel bad for them. You just know at least one person is losing their marbles in panic about being indefinitely trapped on a ship while waiting to see if you catch a deadly illness
55
alcabazar 5 days ago +118
>Two crew members, including the ship's reportedly British doctor, require urgent medical care and are due to be evacuated on a hospital aircraft to the Canary Islands on Tuesday. A third person linked to a German national who died is also due to be evacuated. It's a grim reminder that a Chinese doctor in Wuhan was one of the first victims of COVID -19.
118
SpiderSlitScrotums 5 days ago +72
[Dr. Urbani](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Urbani) died during the original SARS outbreak as well (the strain was named after him). [Dr. Adadevoh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ameyo_Adadevoh) also died during the 2014 Ebola outbreak. There are some incredible heroes in public health that most people don’t know about.
72
TooMad 5 days ago +145
This will all finally be over by Easter
145
Delicious-Freedom-56 5 days ago +7
as soon as it gets warm
7
wip30ut 5 days ago +336
the Canarias don't deserve this mouse plague! They should set sail for Mar a Lago pronto.
336
cantproveidid 5 days ago +75
People are always using Canaries to know how bad something is.
75
subdep 5 days ago +10
Best way to test the contagion is a Canary in the Cruise Ship.
10
Roy-Southman 5 days ago +18
Yeah, f*** that. I’m living in Spain right now, I don’t want that shit around here.
18
Venture_compound 5 days ago +78
A plane just departed from D.C. with Special Agents Mulder and Scully.
78
ResistiveBeaver 5 days ago +21
Trump's FBI no longer has Special Agents, only *special* agents.
21
Gadshill 5 days ago +111
The canary in a coal mine islands.
111
Dophie 5 days ago +61
Cool, cool. Just landed in Gran Canaria.
61
VirtualFever 5 days ago +68
Feels weird seeing this considering I did my thesis on hantavirus…
68
AlmostFamous49 5 days ago +28
So how did it end? 😬
28
VirtualFever 5 days ago +104
Hantavirus is quite nasty! It can cause your blood vessels to become leaky, especially in the lungs or kidneys depending on the syndrome (like you probably know already). The exact mechanism is not fully certain, but there is a strong case that it is not a direct killing of the cells by the virus itself. Instead, it seems to be more related to immune dysregulation, meaning your own immune system contributes a lot to the damage here…!
104
Aliens_Unite 5 days ago +26
Hantavirus freaks me out. Nothing more fun than helping cleaning your parents garage in the desert and coming across a box filled with deer mouse droppings.
26
WoolooOfWallStreet 5 days ago +8
Cytokine storm?
8
1WeekLater 5 days ago +10
may i ask a question please? why do these virus suddenly appear on a random cruise ship? whats their source?
10
LinusandLucy2016 5 days ago +15
They got on the ship in Argentina where the virus has had pockets of disease over the last 20 years or so happening yearly. They could have gotten it while on land in Argentina or got it when they got off exploring somewhere after the fact, but seems more likely they got it in Argentina based on the death date of the 1st victim- April 11. The rest started showing symptoms about 2 weeks later. It would appear the incubation on this specific pocket is about 2 weeks if everything I said is the actual way it happened. 
15
DeliciousStand372 5 days ago +5
So, it doesn't mean the ship has rats, right?
5
ThatWasIntentional 5 days ago +3
The fact that people on this ship keep getting sick ) not just a one and done), points to a rat infestation
3
reasonably_plausible 5 days ago +5
When it was thought to be a normal hantavirus, that would be the conclusion. But now that they have shown it to be the Andes Virus, it can also be due to human-to-human transmission.
5
Discombombulatedfart 5 days ago +7
The news article is saying it's a "strain that spreads between humans".
7
Extreme_Put_913 4 days ago +2
I think cruise ships "reuse" air onboard so I feel like air transmission is cranked up to 100 in this situation. I also remember reading human-to-human transmission and someone else wrote that too so I feel like its a perfect condition to spread.
2
Jumpy-Coffee-Cat 5 days ago +4
Cruise ships have strict reporting requirements, it’s also a (relatively) self contained location, so when something like this happens it gets blasted out into the news. The WHO estimates between 10k and 100k cases globally per year, yet you don’t see that in the news but here we have ~13 cases on a cruise ship and it’s everywhere.
4
Fern-ando 5 days ago +66
Surely nothing bad could happend... Is not like Canarian medical personal is already overworked.
66
Pineapple-Pizzaz 5 days ago +22
"Nothing bad can happen, it can only good happen"
22
Hefty_Musician2402 4 days ago +1
Everything’s computer!
1
kortisol 5 days ago +11
Thank God they are not priests with ebola
11
Black_Otter 5 days ago +19
Oh that’s nice. I heard it’s lovely this time of year
19
sonia72quebec 5 days ago +18
Is there a vaccine against this?
18
White_Null 5 days ago +22
No vaccines exist for Andes virus infection.
22
alcabazar 5 days ago +32
Would it matter? We can't stop people from drinking raw milk, let alone take the vaccines we already have for preventable diseases.
32
bussymonke 5 days ago +11
Yes, it would matter for the people who want it
11
misszoei 5 days ago +8
I’m calling it now - people will be evacuated and the boat will be scuttled. No one will want to take on the responsibility for this, especially after Covid.
8
LiterallyJoeStalin 5 days ago +51
Here’s the ship’s website: https://oceanwide-expeditions.com/our-fleet/m-v-hondius > This means that when you sail aboard Hondius, you get to enjoy the exotic landscapes and wildlife as much as possible while impacting them as little as possible. Guess the wildlife got a little *too* exotic. 
51
LowRepresentative291 5 days ago +5
You're not impacting the wildlife, the wildlife is impacting you!
5
Cl0verSueHipple 5 days ago +11
Hill I will die on: this and several other reasons why I’ll NEVER get on a cruise ship. Perfectly happy living the rest of my life traveling via car, foot, and plane (and an occasional ferry). I’ve never had any desire to go on a cruise and this validates my instincts.
11
_DauT 5 days ago +7
"they're sending us to hantavirus island to catch hantavirus. I wish were were going to the canary islands." "What do they have there?" "Hantavirus, but it's on a boat."
7
hesdeadjim1434 5 days ago +20
Note to self: cancel Canary islands trip.
20
MedicalDisscharge 5 days ago +30
They got the upgrade in plague inc
30
That-Advance-9619 5 days ago +12
The world didn't help the Canary Islands with the eruption we had in 2021, yet we gotta deal with this cruise ship that we have NOTHING to do, not to mention that we are underprepared. That's great.
12
CheesecakeEither8220 5 days ago +6
I sincerely hope that your islands are supported with the appropriate medical supplies and personnel!
6
vixiefern 5 days ago +1
At least the ship hasnt arrived there yet, its still sitting anchored off the port of Praia. Has been there for several days already without moving https://www.myshiptracking.com/?mmsi=244327000
1
No_Opportunity1934 3 days ago +1
Either that, or it goes to a port in mainland Europe putting hundreds of millions at risk. You do the math.
1
PlumpHughJazz 5 days ago +16
Perfect Dead Rising setting.
16
UrsaMajor7th 5 days ago +3
If the canary dies, they scuttle the ship.
3
cravingnoodles 5 days ago +7
Put a giant dome over the islands
7
VaginaBurner69 5 days ago +9
The real captain now is whoever brought the thermometer.
9
whiskeytown79 5 days ago +11
Isn't hantavirus communicated by rodents, and not human-human contact? Evacuating the people who are already sick and then sending the environment that got them sick with thousands of other people still onboard to a new location is an insane response. Everyone should be offboarded and the ship quarantined and cleaned. Edit: it has come to light that this particular strain of hantavirus can transfer from human to human, a detail which was not present in the article at the time of this comment, but has been added since. Also, this particular cruise ship is much smaller than I had thought, and is more like 150 people than thousands.
11
Pineapple-Pizzaz 5 days ago +52
Normally, yes. But I've heard speculation that there may be a strain from South Africa that can be person to person. *edit* I meant South America. Thank you for correcting
52
Only--East 5 days ago +43
South America* which is where the ship left from.
43
unicornviolence 5 days ago +20
Andes Virus which comes from Argentina (where the ship was 3 weeks ago).
20
Ancient_Sound_5347 5 days ago +37
The person to person strain occured on the cruise ship. They are doing contact tracing amongst airline passengers who were on the same flight as the two cruise ship passengers who sought medical attention in South Africa. So far nothing has been reporterd.
37
FreeWilly1337 5 days ago +31
That doesn’t sound familiar at all.
31
teh_maxh 5 days ago +10
WHO is assuming person-to-person transmission is possible as a precaution. Since there is a known strain from Argentina (which is where the ship departed) that is transmissible person-to-person, it's more than just a theoretical possibility, but it has not been confirmed.
10
Only--East 5 days ago +5
South America* which is where the ship left from.
5
cunfabuloust 5 days ago +8
Aside: there's about 150 people on board. 
8
CubitsTNE 5 days ago +3
It's poop cruise 2: when nature calls
3
reasonably_plausible 5 days ago +1
>Isn't hantavirus communicated by rodents, and not human-human contact? From the linked article: >A rare strain of hantavirus, **which has been known to spread between people in close contact**, has been found in patients linked to a deadly outbreak on a Dutch cruise ship.
1
whiskeytown79 5 days ago +1
This article has changed since I read it then, that definitely wasn't in the first sentence or headline when I first opened it. Note the time on the article is "6h ago" (as of now) whereas my comment is from 18h ago.
1
karma_the_sequel 5 days ago +5
Soon to be known as the Canary In A Coal Mine Islands.
5
frank1934 5 days ago +5
So what does this paywall article say?
5
pmacnayr 5 days ago +8
Cruise ship with hantavirus outbreak to sail to Canary Islands…
8
Interesting-Risk6446 3 days ago +1
I've seen this movie before.
1
Nice_juggers 1 day ago +1
H***** virus is crazy the nerds are super spreaders
1
supercali45 19 hr ago +1
Good thing the USA left the WHO
1
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