MV Hondius cruise ship exports Andes-virus cases across multiple jurisdictions

What happened The expedition cruise ship MV Hondius diverted to Ushuaia on 04 March 2026 after a passenger developed HPS-consistent symptoms en route to the South Sandwich Islands. By 09 March, six additional passengers and two crew tested ANDV-positive by RT-PCR. The vessel had docked at Puerto Madryn three weeks prior, placing it temporally and geographically near the Patagonian index cluster.

What changed since last update Cumulative deaths attributable to the Hondius cluster are held at 3 as of WHO DON #600 — two passengers (one 74-year-old with comorbidities, reported 14 March; one 68-year-old, reported 28 March) and one crew member (reported 19 April). Contact-tracing programmes in Switzerland, Germany and the United Kingdom have completed without identifying secondary cases.

Official source summary - Passenger cases: 6 confirmed - Crew cases: 2 confirmed - Deaths: 3 (2 passengers, 1 crew) - Disembarkation jurisdictions with confirmed cases: Switzerland (1), Germany (1), Norway (research-link case under separate investigation) - Index port-of-call: Puerto Madryn, Argentina (~3 weeks prior to symptom onset) - CFR: 3/8 = 37.5% (within Andes-virus historical 30–40% range)

Market impact - Will MV Hondius–attributed deaths exceed 10 by July 1, 2026? — at 3 deaths and no new symptomatic cases since March, the trajectory is bearish. - Will a second EU country confirm a domestic Andes virus case by June 15, 2026? — Hondius-linked cases are *imported*, not autochthonous, so they do not resolve this market.

Open questions 1. Is the Puerto Madryn port call the true exposure event, or is there onboard rodent contamination? 2. Why did contact tracing in 11 jurisdictions yield zero secondary cases? Is this a transmission-dynamics observation or a surveillance gap? 3. Does WGS link the Hondius isolate to the Bariloche lodge cluster?

Timeline - ~10 Feb 2026 — MV Hondius docks at Puerto Madryn. - 04 Mar 2026 — Vessel diverts to Ushuaia after first symptomatic passenger. - 09 Mar 2026 — 6 passengers + 2 crew confirmed ANDV-positive. - 14 Mar 2026 — First Hondius-attributed death (74-year-old passenger). - 28 Mar 2026 — Second Hondius-attributed death. - 19 Apr 2026 — Third Hondius-attributed death (crew member). - 08 May 2026 — Hondius cumulative case count and deaths held; included in WHO DON #600.

Sources See sources block below. Background: 2026 outbreak timeline and MV Hondius outbreak deep dive.