US arranging repatriation flight for Americans on hantavirus-hit cruise ship

FILE PHOTO: Cruise ship MV Hondius docks off Cape Verde port, as passengers were not allowed off the ship, while health authorities investigated suspected cases of hantavirus aboard the vessel, in Praia Port, Cape Verde, May 4, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

WASHINGTON, May ⁠8 (Reuters) - The United States is ⁠arranging a repatriation flight to return ‌American passengers on a Dutch cruise ship hit by an outbreak of a ​deadly strain of hantavirus, ⁠the U.S. Department ⁠of State said on Friday.

"The Department of ⁠State ‌is closely tracking the hantavirus outbreak on a ⁠Dutch cruise ship in the Atlantic ​Ocean ‌and maintaining close contact with the ⁠cruise ​ship staff, Americans on board, and U.S. and international health authorities," a ⁠State Department spokesperson said ​in a statement.

The spokesperson said the department is in direct contact with ⁠Americans on board and is ready to provide consular assistance as soon as the ship arrives in ​Tenerife, Spain.

There are ⁠17 American passengers aboard the ship, ​according to cruise ‌operator Oceanwide Expeditions.

(Reporting by ​Simon Lewis and Ryan Patrick Jones; editing by Michelle Nichols)