On June 11, 2026, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its official situation summary for the Andes hantavirus outbreak linked to the Dutch expedition cruise ship M/V Hondius — an event that began in the South Atlantic Ocean in late April, killed three people, and resulted in the most unusual federal quarantine activation on U.S. soil in years. The update confirmed that 10 of the 18 Americans repatriated to the Nebraska Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center remain under active monitoring there, while 8 others have met the criteria to complete their 42-day monitoring period from home. Separately, passengers who had already disembarked the ship and returned to the U.S. before the outbreak was formally identified completed their own 42-day monitoring period on June 6 with no detected hantavirus cases.
The update is being followed closely by global health officials, infectious disease specialists, and cruise industry safety advocates, because this cluster represented something unprecedented: a multi-country outbreak of Andes virus linked to a single commercial vessel, involving citizens from 23 different countries and exposures that occurred at some of the most remote locations on Earth.
