Passengers from the rat virus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius are transferred to Madrid’s Gómez Ulla Military Hospital after being evacuated from the vessel in Tenerife on Sunday, May 10.

Three people have died from the 'hantavirus'; a Dutch couple and a German national. The WHO has confirmed five cases and three more suspected cases.

Authorities are racing to trace dozens of people who reportedly left the ship at earlier stops, with the WHO insisting it's not the start of a 'new COVID'.

Argentine officials said the working theory was that a Dutch couple caught the virus while birdwatching, and had visited a landfill site.