Boarding of repatriated Hondius passengers onto a French aircraft at Tenerife airport, Canary Islands, Spain, May 10, 2026. BORJA SUAREZ/REUTERS
Five French cruise passengers were repatriated on Sunday, May 10. The first positive case among them was detected overnight and 22 contact cases have now been identified by the Ministry of Health, according to figures released on Monday morning. In just 48 hours, health authorities raised their level of vigilance.
The identification of a hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius, which was carrying about 150 people of some 20 nationalities, has in recent days prompted numerous questions about the protective measures to be implemented in each country.
France began to outline its response on Sunday, after the arrival of its nationals at Le Bourget airport, just outside Paris. These five high-risk contacts, having traveled on the vessel, will undergo a six-week isolation period – the incubation period of the virus – the government announced. "We are taking very strict measures (...) to protect the French public," said Health Minister Stéphanie Rist on France 2 television channel on Sunday evening. "It is at the very beginning of the epidemic that the outcome is determined; we must break the chain of virus transmission."
