Dutch hospital quarantines 12 staff after hantavirus exposure linked to cruise ship outbreak

A hospital in the Netherlands has placed 12 healthcare workers under preventive quarantine after possible exposure to hantavirus while treating a patient linked to the ongoing outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius.

According to reports, the affected staff members at Radboud University Medical Center (Radboudumc) in Nijmegen were involved in handling blood samples and disposing of urine from an infected patient without following the latest international safety guidelines. The hospital said the errors were discovered during internal checks.

The 12 employees have now entered a six-week preventive quarantine period. Hospital officials, however, stressed that the risk of infection remains “very low”. Bertine Lahuis, chair of the Executive Board of Radboudumc, said the precautionary measures were necessary despite the low risk because of the nature of the virus.

The infected patient had been evacuated from the Dutch expedition cruise ship MV Hondius, which has become the centre of an international public health response after multiple hantavirus infections were reported onboard. The outbreak has been linked to the Andes strain of hantavirus, one of the few known variants capable of limited human-to-human transmission through close contact.

Health authorities and the World Health Organization (WHO) have so far linked several confirmed and suspected cases across multiple countries to the cruise ship outbreak. At least three deaths have been reported, including two confirmed hantavirus fatalities.

Spanish authorities also confirmed that one evacuee from the ship tested preliminarily positive for the virus after arriving in Madrid. Officials said the person remains asymptomatic and under medical observation.

WHO has repeatedly stated that the situation is “not another COVID”, noting that hantavirus does not spread easily between people. The virus is usually transmitted through exposure to infected rodent urine, droppings or saliva. Human-to-human transmission is considered extremely rare and has mainly been associated with the Andes strain.

Symptoms of hantavirus infection may initially resemble flu and include fever, headache, muscle pain, fatigue, nausea and vomiting. Severe cases can lead to breathing difficulties, lung complications and kidney failure.