For nearly a week, seventeen U.S. citizens remained confined aboard a cruise vessel connected to several fatalities from an uncommon and little-documented pathogen, as Washington-based federal authorities worked urgently to facilitate their return.
Now, with a government-organized air transport operation in progress and two travelers housed within the aircraft’s isolation compartments, those individuals are at last making their way back to American territory.
The seventeen U.S. travelers aboard the MV Hondius, a Netherlands-flagged expedition vessel central to the outbreak, were extracted Sunday from Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, one traveler has received a preliminary positive result for the Andes virus while another displays minor indicators of illness. Together with a British citizen living in the United States, all are currently being transported to a dedicated medical facility in Omaha, Nebraska.
A Journey Through Some of Earth’s Most Isolated Seas The MV Hondius set sail from Ushuaia, located at Argentina’s southernmost point, on April 1, 2026, with 147 individuals representing 23 nations aboard for an expedition crossing the South Atlantic.
The itinerary brought travelers to some of the globe’s most secluded locations, among them Antarctica, South Georgia Island, Tristan da Cunha, Ascension Island, and the British territory of Saint Helena.
Initial indications of severe illness appeared on April 6, when a male traveler reported fever, head pain, and slight gastrointestinal distress. His health deteriorated, and he died aboard the vessel on April 11.
His spouse, also aboard the ship, was transported to South Africa, where she died on April 26.
Both were citizens of the Netherlands who had journeyed through Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay on a birding excursion prior to embarking, visiting locations “where the rodent species known to harbor the Andes virus was documented.”
A third traveler, a woman from Germany, died aboard on May 2. By May 6, eight total cases had been connected to the outbreak.
Laboratory analysis identified the pathogen as the Andes virus, a South American strain that, per a CDC Health Alert, represents the sole documented hantavirus variant capable of human-to-human transmission.
Health authorities emphasized that such transmission is uncommon and necessitates sustained, intimate contact.
As case numbers increased, the vessel’s medical officer also received a positive test result. Travelers found themselves without qualified medical oversight during the voyage’s most precarious phase.
The Medical Professional Who Held the Vessel Together Dr. Stephen Kornfeld, a cancer specialist from Bend, Oregon, had boarded the MV Hondius for birding purposes. He soon discovered himself engaged in an entirely different undertaking.
Following the ship’s physician testing positive, Kornfeld assumed leadership of the emergency response, informing ABC News that he hadn’t foreseen the magnitude of the situation he was entering:
“It just kind of escalated to within 24 hours after I stepped in.”
During that initial period, one individual had died, the vessel’s medical staff and another crew member were deteriorating, and reports of hantavirus had started circulating beyond the ship.
Despite the emergency, Kornfeld noted that travelers and crew rapidly unified to assist one another. “There were a lot of people kind of helping and working, and it really felt like a team,” he stated:
“These people have started to become my family.”
Kornfeld acknowledged the ordeal had left him feeling somewhat exposed, yet noted that increasing assurance among the American travelers stemmed from the passage of days without additional symptom development.
He also conveyed comfort in knowing they would shortly receive access to advanced medical treatment within the United States.
Even with uncertainty surrounding them, Kornfeld preserved a lighthearted perspective regarding their eventual destination, quipping that he’d never imagined birding would ultimately lead him to Nebraska.
The Magnitude of the Federal Government’s Effort Repatriating American travelers prompted a unified effort spanning numerous federal departments. HHS, via its Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response and the CDC, collaborated with the State Department to coordinate the air evacuation and oversee the return process.
An aerial photograph captures medical staff helping patients board a vessel from the cruise ship MV Hondius while anchored near Praia, Cape Verde’s capital, on May 6, 2026. | Source: Getty Images
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated that federal departments were coordinating closely with global partners to ensure the safe return of Americans who had encountered the Andes strain of hantavirus while aboard the cruise vessel.
He emphasized that safeguarding the wellbeing of U.S. citizens remained the administration’s foremost concern and that premier medical and public health assets had been deployed as part of the emergency response.
Two travelers were transported within the aircraft’s isolation compartments as a safety measure. The group is en route to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, which houses the National Quarantine Unit, the nation’s sole federally supported isolation facility.
The 20-bed facility launched in November 2019, featuring negative pressure ventilation systems engineered specifically to contain infectious disease transmission. The CDC verified that no compulsory isolation applies to this group.
Upon landing, every traveler will receive a medical evaluation. Individuals classified as low-risk may return to their residences, where they’ll remain under observation by regional health authorities for up to 42 days following their final possible exposure, consistent with CDC protocols.
Interim CDC director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya addressed comparisons to the coronavirus pandemic directly. “This is not Covid,” he stated:
“And we don’t want to treat it like Covid. We don’t want to cause a public panic over this.”
Why Six States Are Now Monitoring Prior to Sunday’s repatriation, several U.S. travelers had already returned domestically, prompting health agencies nationwide to initiate surveillance efforts.
Residents across Arizona, California, Georgia, Texas, Virginia, and New Jersey are currently under observation for potential exposure indicators. All remain without symptoms and in stable condition, according to their respective state health authorities.
New Jersey provided additional context extending beyond the vessel itself. The two individuals under surveillance there were not aboard the MV Hondius.
Per the New Jersey Department of Health, both may have encountered an infected person while traveling internationally by air. “At this time, the risk to the general public in New Jersey remains very low,” the department stated on May 8.
‘Everyone, Wear Masks’ Across social media, the repatriation sparked recollections of previous international health emergencies, with responses spanning from measured reassurance to evident concern.
“Dangerous pathogens don’t transmit that readily so we should be okay,” one commenter noted. Others expressed exhaustion. “I’m so drained. Really hoping it doesn’t spread but I’m quite doubtful,” another shared.
“I feel terrible for the communities this cruise stopped at,” a third wrote. Another kept it brief: “Everyone, wear masks.”
For the moment, authorities continue emphasizing that danger to the wider population stays minimal. Yet following days confined aboard a vessel associated with the uncommon and lethal Hantavirus, the Americans from the MV Hondius are at last returning home.