Twelve healthcare workers in the Netherlands have been placed under precautionary quarantine after safety procedures were not properly followed while treating a patient infected with hantavirus, officials said.

The incident occurred at the Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen after a patient evacuated from the cruise ship MV Hondius was admitted on May 7. According to the hospital, staff used a standard blood collection procedure instead of the stricter protocol required for handling hantavirus cases. In addition, the patient’s urine was reportedly not disposed of according to the latest international safety guidelines.

Although hospital officials emphasized that the risk of infection remains low, the affected workers will remain in preventive quarantine for six weeks. The patient is also being kept in isolation.

“We regret that this happened at our university medical center. We will thoroughly investigate the incident to understand what went wrong and prevent similar situations in the future,” said Bertine Lahuis, Chair of the Executive Board of Radboudumc.

The hantavirus outbreak aboard the Dutch-flagged cruise ship MV Hondius triggered a major evacuation operation in the Canary Islands. The final group of passengers and crew members returned to the Netherlands on Tuesday.

According to the World Health Organization, at least seven evacuees have tested positive for hantavirus, while another case is considered probable. Three people have died following the outbreak.

Health officials stressed that the overall risk to the public remains low and said the situation should not be compared to the COVID-19 pandemic. The cruise ship is expected to undergo full disinfection procedures upon arrival in Rotterdam.