05/11/2026

Passengers evacuated from hantavirus-stricken cruise ship

Passengers evacuated from a cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak began flying home to more than 20 countries Sunday aboard military and government planes after the vessel anchored in the Canary Islands, off Africa’s west coast. The travelers were escorted to shore by personnel in full-body protective gear and breathing masks. None of the more than 140 evacuated passengers had shown any symptoms of the infection that killed three and sickened five others on the ship.

■Class discussion: Why can infectious diseases spread quickly on cruise ships? The ship that was hit by the hantavirus can only accommodate up to 170 passengers. How much worse could such a disease outbreak be on a giant cruise ship carrying 6,000 or 7,000 passengers? Hundreds of cruise ship passengers were infected, and dozens of them died in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Could giant cruise ships increase the spread of infections in a future pandemic? Should cruise ships be better equipped to deal with infection outbreaks?