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Turkish YouTuber Ruhi Cenet has faced public criticism in Türkiye after he attended a wedding in Istanbul following his departure from the MV Hondius, the ship linked to a deadly hantavirus outbreak that has killed three people.
The controversy comes as Turkish authorities urged the public to rely on official information.
Türkiye’s Health Ministry said on Friday that the process related to hantavirus cases was being followed “meticulously” on scientific grounds and that no positive case had yet been detected in the country.
“Our citizens should only take into account statements made by official authorities and be careful against unconfirmed information circulating in public,” the ministry said.
Ruhi Cenet, a Turkish travel vlogger, had boarded the cruise ship in Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1 for a documentary project about Tristan da Cunha, the remote South Atlantic archipelago. The vessel was carrying 88 passengers and 59 crew members, with many passengers described as older amateur birdwatchers.
What began as a remote ocean voyage turned into an international health concern after several people linked to the ship died or were treated following suspected or confirmed hantavirus infections.
Ruhi Cenet’s return to Türkiye came under scrutiny after a photo taken with him at a wedding in Istanbul’s Catalca district circulated on social media.
The image, reportedly shared by a person who posed with him at the event, prompted users to question why someone who had recently left a ship linked to a fatal outbreak had joined a crowded gathering.
Cenet later said he had isolated himself and was monitoring his health. “I will not mix with the public for several weeks,” he said in comments reported by Sozcu. “I am in constant contact with health teams. If I feel even the slightest fever or weakness, I am ready to put on my mask and call an ambulance.”
He also said he and his cameraman had understood the risk during the voyage after seeing the condition of a symptomatic passenger, particularly the wife of the first person who died.
“From that moment, my cameraman and I locked ourselves in our room. We completely cut off contact with the outside,” Cenet said.
Cenet told AFP that after returning to Türkiye, he was told he did not need to enter quarantine as long as he had no symptoms.
“When we got to Türkiye, we were told that as long as we don’t show any symptoms, at this point we don’t have to be quarantined,” he said. “We are trying to isolate ourselves as much as we can.”
The criticism also came from inside the ship.
Turkish birdwatcher and wildlife expert Emin Yogurtcuoglu, who remains aboard the ship with his wife, accused Cenet of sharing inaccurate information at a sensitive moment.
“We are still on the ship and you know this,” Yogurtcuoglu wrote in a comment responding to Cenet’s video. “You neither asked how we were nor replied to the messages I sent you.”
Yogurtcuoglu said Cenet’s public statements could make the evacuation process more difficult for passengers still aboard.
“You are now sharing some misleading information, at a very critical time, as if it were true,” he said, adding, “are you trying to make our disembarkation even more difficult?”
He also objected to presenting the outbreak as a confirmed person-to-person threat before all details had been established.
“We are still on the ship, and we are safe,” he said, adding that he meant passengers were still healthy and trying to leave safely. “Publish accurate information.” He also posted an Instagram story on Friday reaffirming his statements.
Yogurtcuoglu had earlier said in an Instagram video from the ship that passengers were heading toward the Canary Islands and that there were no new cases at the time of his update.
Ruhi Cenet’s account has also focused attention on the first death announcement aboard the vessel.
In an interview, Cenet said he began recording when the captain made an unusual announcement on April 12, one day after a passenger died.
“I felt something odd,” Cenet told NBC News.
In the video, the captain told passengers that one guest had “suddenly passed away” and said the death was believed to be from natural causes. He added that the passenger’s health issues were understood at the time to be “not infectious,” and told passengers that “the ship is safe when it comes to that.”
Cenet later said passengers were not properly informed about the possible risk. “It turns out we were not well informed,” he told NBC News. “Knowing that we didn’t get isolated and we didn’t take any caution for a solid 12 days, for my part, is a very sad situation.”
He also told AFP that ordinary life continued on the vessel after the first death.
“We again kept eating all together... and we didn’t wear any masks,” Cenet said. “We didn’t know there was a virus, but we just took precautions.”
Oceanwide Expeditions, the operator of the cruise ship, said the cause of death was unknown at the time of the captain’s announcement and that there was no evidence then of a virus or contagion aboard the vessel.
“The case was believed to be isolated following medical review,” the company said, adding that health, safety, and maritime standards had been followed.
The company also said Thursday that no symptomatic individuals were present on board as the ship sailed toward Tenerife, while three evacuated people were receiving medical care in the Netherlands.
The MV Hondius left its anchorage near Cape Verde on Wednesday and headed toward Spain’s Canary Islands.
The outbreak has drawn concern because the strain linked to cases from the ship is the Andes strain, which is known for rare but documented person-to-person transmission through very close contact.
The World Health Organization has said at least five people from the ship were definitely or probably infected with hantavirus, according to AFP. Passengers returning to the United States are also being monitored, and 12 countries were informed because their citizens were linked to the voyage.
Those countries were listed as Türkiye, Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The Turkish Health Ministry said no confirmed case had been detected in Türkiye so far and that screening, prevention, control, and monitoring efforts were continuing.
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