OTTAWA AND TORONTO — Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says one consular officer is now in the Canary Islands, where four Canadians on a cruise ship that was hit with a hantavirus outbreak are set to arrive Sunday morning.
Her comments came ahead of a Friday briefing by federal officials and after Ontario’s top doctor said two Ontario residents who were on the ship are in good spirits and showing no symptoms while they isolate in their rural community.
Anand told The Canadian Press that four Canadian passengers are still on the ship. She said dozens of foreign service staff have been tasked with responding to the hantavirus outbreak by reaching out to those affected and responding to questions from the public.
The MV Hondius, a cruise ship owned by a Dutch company, is carrying more than 140 asymptomatic passengers and crew. It’s set to dock early Sunday in Granadilla in Tenerife, a Spanish island off the coast of Africa.
“The consular officer has arrived in Tenerife,” Anand said Friday.
“Between geographic teams, multiple consular and emergency management teams, missions abroad, HR staff (and) financial teams, there are at least 50 Global Affairs staff members working directly on this issue,” she added, citing Canada’s embassies in The Hague and Madrid.
Earlier Friday, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health said a couple who were on the ship are now in the Grey Bruce Public Health Unit’s region, where they are being monitored for 45 days, the longest potential incubation period for the deadly virus.
Dr. Kieran Moore said the couple left the cruise ship on the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena in late April, then flew to Johannesburg, South Africa. An infected person was on that flight, meaning the couple was exposed in two settings.
He said there is very little to no risk to the general public in Ontario.
The cruise ship has reported eight cases — three of them fatal — due to an outbreak of the rodent-borne Andes virus, the only hantavirus known to be capable of limited transmission between humans.
None of the Canadians who remain on the boat are from Ontario, Moore said.
He said a national teleconference for public health leaders was held Thursday to co-ordinate efforts between federal, provincial and territorial partners.
Despite the low risk of the virus spreading widely, he acknowledged that hearing words like “contact tracing” for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic can cause anxiety.
“I hope it doesn’t trigger too many individuals, but I do want to assure Ontarians we have a plan. We’re becoming experts in this type of activity on contact tracing, on monitoring, on testing, and ensuring Ontarians get the right care at the right time,” Moore said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 8, 2026.
Dylan Robertson, Allison Jones and Hannah Alberga, The Canadian Press
