Source: Radio New Zealand (world)
Photo: Joao Luiz Bulcao / Hans Lucas via AFP Health NZ has confirmed one of the New Zealanders on board a cruise ship struck by hantavirus does not usually live in New Zealand. One New Zealand citizen left the ship before the hantavirus outbreak was revealed, while another disembarked on Monday and is now being quarantined in Australia.
Director of Public Health Dr Corina Gray said the first New Zealander to leave the ship was in fact a dual national and did not live in New Zealand. “We can confirm New Zealand authorities have been in contact with a dual New Zealand national, not normally resident in New Zealand, who has been exposed to hantavirus,” she said in a statement. “On Thursday last week, New Zealand authorities alerted the public health services where this person normally resides.
We have also alerted health partners in the country where this person is currently located.” A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was in contact with the person. “We are providing consular assistance to a dual national who ordinarily resides outside New Zealand, who has sought help from MFAT today.” On Tuesday, the ABC reported the Australian Federal Health Minister Mark Butler as saying the Kiwi due to quarantine in Perth with five Australians was in “good health” and “relatively good spirits” despite the situation.
Three passengers on board the ship – a Dutch couple and a German national – have died after contracting the virus. As of Tuesday, Butler told the ABC that a French national – also from the cruise – was in critical condition in hospital after testing positive for the virus.
Hantavirus is typically spread by the inhalation of contaminated rodent droppings.
This particular strain, the Andes virus, is endemic to Argentina, and is the only strain of hantavirus that has been known to have human to human transmission – typically through very close contact such as sharing a bed or food.
Its symptoms typically include fever, headache, muscle aches and gastrointestinal symptoms. No vaccines or specific treatments exist for hantavirus, but quick hospital care can often prevent symptoms turning deadly.
Hantaviruses are found in small mammals such as rats, mice, voles, shrews and lemmings, but no New Zealand rodents carry these viruses, University of Auckland associate professor of infectious diseases Dr Mark Thomas said. “The only way a New Zealand resident could become unwell with a hantavirus infection would be as the result of travel to a country where the virus is present.” WHO has said the investigations so far suggest possible exposure to rodents during bird watching activities.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday. Copyright © 2026, Radio New Zealand • Kiwi from hantavirus-hit cruise ship ‘in good health’ 12 May 2026 The Australian government remains hopeful it will finalise plans to repatriate them and five Australians within 48 hours.
Australian government finalising plans to bring hantavirus cruise ship passengers home Kiwi from hantavirus-hit cruise ship ‘in good health’ The Australian government remains hopeful it will finalise plans to repatriate them and five Australians within 48 hours. • How worried should we be about the hantavirus?
11 May 2026 Explainer – The internet is filling with panic, but could it really be another Covid-19? Here’s what we know so far. Video, Audio What exactly is the hantavirus outbreak and how worried should we be?
How worried should we be about the hantavirus? Explainer – The internet is filling with panic, but could it really be another Covid-19? Here’s what we know so far.
Video, Audio • The facility where a Kiwi caught in a hantavirus outbreak will quarantine 12 May 2026 A 500-bed Perth facility which was built during the Covid-19 pandemic as a quarantine centre sat idle for years, but now it will be used for a different deadly virus.
The facility where a Kiwi caught in a hantavirus outbreak will quarantine The facility where a Kiwi caught in a hantavirus outbreak will quarantine A 500-bed Perth facility which was built during the Covid-19 pandemic as a quarantine centre sat idle for years, but now it will be used for a different deadly virus. • Hantavirus-hit cruise ship passengers to quarantine in Perth 11 May 2026 Five Australians and one Kiwi who were on the ship will be “immediately transferred” to a quarantine facility in Perth for at least three weeks, once they arrive in Australia.
Audio Hantavirus-hit cruise ship passengers to quarantine in Perth Hantavirus-hit cruise ship passengers to quarantine in Perth Five Australians and one Kiwi who were on the ship will be “immediately transferred” to a quarantine facility in Perth for at least three weeks, once they arrive in Australia.
Audio • Three die on cruise ship from suspected hantavirus 4 May 2026 The outbreak occurred on the MV Hondius, travelling from Ushuaia in Argentina to Cape Verde.
Three die on Atlantic cruise ship from suspected hantavirus Three die on cruise ship from suspected hantavirus The outbreak occurred on the MV Hondius, travelling from Ushuaia in Argentina to Cape Verde. • Kiwi onboard hantavirus-hit cruise ship doesn’t usually live in New Zealand • Awanui Labs review needed after fatal cancer missed – Patient Voice Aotearoa • The name of this health condition was wrong – it’s been changed • Vaccine-preventable HPV cancers cost country more than $130m in four years • Asian health contributors recognised at awards ceremony for ad-free news and current affairs • Birgit Brauer’s killer Michael Wallace to fight conviction through Criminal Case Review Commission • Growing up Māori in Gloriavale: loving and leaving the only community you know • Short story collection wins New Zealand’s biggest book prize • ‘Everywhere the Pacific Ocean touches, they love them some Katchafire’ • Wellington landlord admits making and publishing intimate recordings