A KLM flight attendant has been hospitalized in isolation in Amsterdam after coming into contact with a passenger who later died from hantavirus following an outbreak linked to the Dutch expedition cruise ship MV Hondius.
The flight attendant, who is from Haarlem in the Netherlands, was admitted to Amsterdam UMC with mild symptoms and is being tested for hantavirus, the Dutch Ministry of Public Health confirmed, according to NL Times.
KLM confirmed on May 6, 2026, that one of the Dutch nationals who died from hantavirus had briefly been on board the same KLM Boeing 777-300ER in Johannesburg on April 25. The airline said the passenger’s medical condition led the crew to decide she could not travel on the flight. The passenger was removed from the aircraft and later died in Johannesburg.
The woman had first traveled from St Helena to Johannesburg on Airlink Flight 4Z132 after leaving the MV Hondius cruise ship. According to the World Health Organization, her condition deteriorated on the flight and she later died at an emergency department in Johannesburg.
KLM said passengers who were on board the affected flight are being informed by GGD Kennemerland, the Dutch municipal health service responsible for public health matters involving Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.
The outbreak began aboard the Dutch-flagged cruise ship operated by Oceanwide Expeditions. WHO said the first known case linked to the outbreak involved an adult male passenger who developed symptoms on April 6 while on board the ship and died on April 11.
The MV Hondius departed Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1, 2026, for an expedition voyage through remote South Atlantic waters. The ship later stopped at Saint Helena, a remote island in the Atlantic, where the body of one passenger and his wife were removed from the vessel on April 24, before continuing toward Cape Verde.
As of May 7, the vessel was sailing from Cape Verde to Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands, where remaining passengers are expected to disembark under public health monitoring.
Countries are now tracing passengers from the cruise ship after the outbreak spread across several regions. Reuters reported that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is monitoring travelers in multiple US states who may have been exposed, though none had shown symptoms.
The Guardian reported that the World Health Organization had confirmed five laboratory-confirmed hantavirus cases linked to the ship, with eight suspected cases and three deaths. Two British people evacuated from the ship were reported to be improving while still in the hospital.
Hantavirus is primarily spread through contact with infected rodents or their urine, droppings or saliva. Health authorities have focused on the outbreak because the virus has been linked to the Andes strain, which has been associated with rare person-to-person transmission through close contact.
Public health officials have emphasized that the risk to the general public remains low.