Australia’s pandemic preparedness faces its first major test since Covid-19 as authorities quarantine cruise passengers exposed to a deadly virus strain.

Australian officials did report missing virus samples in 2024, but a later investigation found incomplete lab records were likely to blame.

A chartered flight, packed with specialist doctors and nurses, will pick up the group from Spain before heading towards Perth.

The Australians and New Zealander who were on board a cruise ship exposed to the deadly hantavirus are set to land on Australian soil on Friday.

The cause: hantavirus. Specifically, the Andes strain – a rare and dangerous variant with a mortality rate that the CDC puts at 38 per cent for serious cases, with some clinical estimates reaching higher.

Australians evacuated from the cruise ship linked to the hantavirus outbreak have begun the long journey home, after a government-chartered repatriation flight failed to arrive in the Canary Islands as scheduled.