Two Irish people on board a virus-hit cruise ship are "safe and well", the Minister for Foreign Affairs has said.

About 12 countries have so far been linked to the hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius, as the UN health agency confirms at least five cases.

In the days since the hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean, concern has taken hold among at least some of its Spanish passengers - but not so much because they fear contracti

Spanish authorities are preparing large-scale evacuations from a hantavirus-affected cruise ship as concerns grow over infections linked to the vessel, while health officials continue to stress that the situation is not comparable to COVID-19. The MV Hondius, carrying nearly 150 people, is expected to reach Tenerife in the Canary Islands over the weekend, where controlled disembarkation procedures will take place.

The World Health Organization said the public health risk linked to the hantavirus outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius remains low, even as officials warned that additional infections could still emerge because the incubation period may last up to six weeks. Health authorities across several countries continue monitoring passengers and contacts connected to the vessel, while WHO officials stressed that the situation is fundamentally different from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Spanish authorities on Friday were preparing to receive more than 140 passengers and crew members on board a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship headed for the Canary Islands, where health officials have said they will perform careful evacuations. The vessel is expected to arrive Sunday at the Spanish island of Tenerife, off…

A new potential hantavirus case is under investigation on the remote island of Tristan da Cunha, while two men tested negative in Singapore.

Quarantine measures, transport and public health needs are being thrashed out.

Prime Minister Rob Jetten said the hantavirus outbreak on a Dutch cruise ship is “completely not comparable” to the Covid-19 pandemic six years ago. Speaking after the weekly council of ministers meeting, he emphasized that this is a well-known virus “for which we know how to control it.”Health Minister Sophie Hermans has earlier stated that the risk of the virus spreading widely in the Netherlands is considered “very small.” Several passengers aboard the cruise ship Hondius have been infected, with three fatalities reported.

The outbreak on the MV Hondius has killed three people.