A cruise ship with nearly 150 people aboard is waiting for help off the coast of Cape Verde in the Atlantic Ocean after three passengers died and at least three other people were left seriously ill in a suspected outbreak of the rare hantavirus, according to the World Health Organization and the ship’s operator.

The MV Hondius, a Dutch ship on a weekslong polar cruise from Argentina to Antarctica and several isolated islands in the South Atlantic, had requested help from local health authorities after making its way to the island of Cape Verde, off the West Africa coast.

The World Health ​Organization said on Monday (May 4, 2026) there was no need for ‌panic and the risk to the public was ​low after three people died ⁠and three fell ill following a suspected outbreak of the rodent-borne hantavirus on a cruise ship in the Atlantic.

Netherlands-based Oceanwide ‌Expeditions said it was “managing a serious medical situation” on a polar expedition ship, ‌the MV Hondius, which was off ‌Cape ⁠Verde, an island nation off Africa’s western ⁠coast.