Dr. Stephen Kornfeld boarded the MV Hondius last month off the southern tip of Argentina, looking forward to a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, exploring vast icy landscapes and remote islands and observing wildlife such as whales, dolphins and penguins up close.
But weeks into a transatlantic vacation, the Oregon doctor sprang into action to care for the passengers when the deadly hantavirus began to spread on the ship, sickening the ship’s doctor.
“I kind of took on the role of the ship’s doctor,” Kornfeld told CNN on board the virus-hit ship, which is currently en route to Tenerife in the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago off the southwest coast of Morocco.
Health workers wearing protective suits evacuate patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship to ambulances at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. – Misper Apawu/AP
The ship’s approximately 146 passengers and crew, including 17 Americans, have been anchored for several days off the West African coast near Praia, Cape Verde, and will arrive in Tenerife on Sunday, where they will disembark and head to their respective countries.
The outbreak has prompted a massive global contact tracing effort as health authorities work to identify people who may have been exposed to the rare rodent-borne virus, which can cause severe respiratory failure. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that it does not expect a pandemic similar to the new coronavirus epidemic, and emphasized that there is no evidence that there is a risk of widespread transmission.
The World Health Organization said five cases of hantavirus infections had been detected among people associated with the ship and several more cases were suspected, noting that more cases were expected. Three people have died, including an elderly Dutch couple who are believed to have contracted the virus while sightseeing in Argentina before joining a cruise.
Kornfeld told CNN’s Erin Burnett that after hearing that a passenger on the Hondez was sick, he asked the ship’s doctor if he needed help. The passenger, a 70-year-old man from the Netherlands, died on board the ship on April 11.
“Within 12 to 24 hours, it became clear that a lot of people were sick and that their condition was getting worse,” he said.
Kornfeld said the dead Dutchman’s wife had “non-specific symptoms” and was “very confused and weak.” She was evacuated from the ship and died in hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, while trying to return home.
A person (2R) wearing a protective suit is escorted into an ambulance from a medical aircraft carrying some passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship believed to be infected with hantavirus, at Schiphol Airport near Amsterdam on 6 May 2026. – Lina Selg/AFP/Getty Images
Kornfeld said the other two patients, including the ship’s doctor, “had a lot of standard virus symptoms.” “Severe fever, fatigue, flushing, some gastrointestinal issues, some shortness of breath.”
“None of them looked critically ill at the time. But the concern with hantavirus is that you can go from seriously ill to critical very quickly.”
The ship’s doctor, who was transferred to a hospital in Johannesburg last month, remains in intensive care but his condition is improving, the World Health Organization said.
Three other passengers on the ship were evacuated to the Netherlands for treatment. A passenger who left the ship early tested positive for hantavirus and is currently being treated in Zurich.
The outbreak is linked to the Andean strain of hantavirus, a rare but potentially serious virus that can spread from person to person through close contact in some cases.
About 30 passengers left the ship late last month, before the outbreak was fully understood, complicating efforts to contain the virus.
Health authorities in several countries, including the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, are monitoring Hondius passengers for potential infections. Hantavirus usually has an incubation period of one to six weeks before a person starts to show symptoms.
A patient is treated after being evacuated from the MV Hondius following a deadly hantavirus outbreak outside Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, on May 7, 2026. -Omar Havana/Reuters
President Donald Trump said Thursday that the hantavirus outbreak “we hope is under control” and said the government would release more information on Friday. “A lot of great people are working on it. It should be fine.”
But Oregon Rep. Janelle Bynum said in a video released Thursday that the federal government “failed the citizens on that ship.”
Bynum said she spoke with Kornfield, her constituents, and said none of the Americans on board had received guidance to get home safely.
She called on the CDC and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to “come up with a real plan” to get them home.
Kornfeld said he was relieved the sick passenger had disembarked and was being treated at a hospital.
“What happens with hantavirus, ultimately survivability really depends on your ability to get critical care at the right time. On a ship, that’s not possible.”
CNN’s Aleena Fayaz contributed reporting
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