Turkish YouTuber Ruhi Çenet is facing criticism after attending a crowded wedding in Istanbul on May 3, following his time aboard the MV Hondius, a cruise ship now linked to a suspected hantavirus outbreak.
The case has drawn attention because the World Health Organization is investigating the voyage, which carried 147 passengers and staff. Three passengers died during or after the trip, possibly from hantavirus, an infectious disease typically associated with contact with rats and other rodents.
What Çenet says happened
After a photo of Çenet at the wedding circulated on social media, the YouTuber posted on Instagram that he went because the WHO had not yet announced its hantavirus probe.
The timing is where the backlash landed. The WHO made the outbreak public on May 3, the same day as the wedding. Çenet has said he did not know about the announcement at first.
Çenet later told NBC News that he left the MV Hondius on April 24 in St. Helena, a remote island in the South Atlantic. He said he has no symptoms, including fever or muscle aches, but is now in quarantine and monitoring his health closely.
The cruise under investigation
The MV Hondius began an Atlantic expedition around April 1, departing from Ushuaia, Argentina, and heading toward Spain’s Canary Islands, with several stops planned along the way.
Officials believe a Dutch couple may have contracted the virus during a bird-watching trip before boarding the ship. The couple died, as did a German national, in what is being investigated as part of the suspected outbreak.
Çenet, a popular Turkish YouTuber, was reportedly on the journey for a documentary project about the South Atlantic archipelago.
Why the wedding photo caused a reaction
The public concern is straightforward: Çenet had recently been on a ship tied to a suspected deadly outbreak, then appeared at a packed social event before the situation was widely understood.
Still, the available record matters. Çenet has said he was unaware of the WHO announcement when he attended the wedding, and he has also said he is symptom-free and quarantining. The confirmed facts, for now, are the WHO investigation, the reported deaths connected to the voyage, and Çenet’s own account of his movements after leaving the ship.
