US and French passengers test positive
An American and a French national who returned to their home countries after leaving the cruise ship MV Hondius have tested positive for hantavirus, according to health authorities.
French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist confirmed that a French woman repatriated from the vessel is isolating in Paris following medical examinations which confirmed infection with the virus. Officials said her condition has deteriorated.
The woman was among five French nationals repatriated from the cruise ship and placed in isolation. The remaining four passengers tested negative but are expected to undergo further testing as a precaution.
French authorities have identified 22 contact cases linked to the hantavirus cruise ship incident as part of ongoing tracing efforts.
The US Department of Health and Human Services also confirmed that one American passenger tested positive after returning from the vessel. A second US national on the repatriation flight showed mild symptoms.
Authorities said both passengers travelled back to the United States in “biocontainment units out of an abundance of caution”.
More than 90 passengers being repatriated
More than 90 passengers from the MV Hondius, currently docked in Spain’s Canary Islands, are being repatriated to their home countries.
The US health department said all 17 American citizens on the repatriation flight would undergo clinical assessment at a medical facility in Nebraska. Seven other US passengers had already returned and are being monitored in their home states.
A British national residing in the United States was evacuated alongside the American passengers.
On Sunday, a chartered flight carrying 20 British nationals arrived in the UK from Tenerife. The passengers were transferred to Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral, Merseyside, where they will isolate for 72 hours. None have reported symptoms.
Two British nationals with confirmed hantavirus cases are currently receiving treatment in the Netherlands and South Africa.
In Spain, 14 Spanish nationals flown to Madrid entered mandatory quarantine at a military hospital, while additional evacuation flights were scheduled.
A separate flight carrying 26 passengers and crew, including eight Dutch nationals, arrived in the Netherlands. Six passengers are returning to Australia, while another 18 will be flown to the Netherlands. Both flights are also carrying passengers from countries that did not organise dedicated repatriation flights.
Ukraine said four of its citizens would remain aboard the MV Hondius as part of the crew overseeing the ship’s transfer to the Netherlands. Upon arrival, they are expected to quarantine at a medical facility. Another Ukrainian crew member was due to leave the vessel on a flight to the Netherlands. Ukrainian authorities said no signs of illness had been detected among their nationals.
Deaths linked to outbreak aboard ship
Three passengers- a Dutch couple and a German woman- have died after travelling aboard the vessel. Two of the deaths have been confirmed as hantavirus cases.
An elderly Dutch man became the first passenger to die aboard the MV Hondius on April 11 after developing symptoms. He is considered a probable case because no laboratory tests were carried out.
His wife, a 69-year-old woman, left the ship on the island of St Helena on April 24 and flew to South Africa, where she died two days later at a clinic in Johannesburg.
A German woman later died aboard the cruise ship on May 2. Both women were confirmed to have contracted the virus.
The MV Hondius departed from Ushuaia in southern Argentina on April 1 and is currently docked at the port of Granadilla in southern Tenerife.
Health authorities monitor possible spread
Hantaviruses are usually carried by rodents, although human-to-human transmission is possible with the Andes strain, which the World Health Organization (WHO) believes may have infected some passengers during the ship’s time in South America.
Symptoms can include fever, severe fatigue, muscle pain, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, and shortness of breath.
The WHO has recommended 42 days of isolation for passengers leaving the MV Hondius.
Before the American case was confirmed, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the US decision not to fully follow WHO guidance on the outbreak “may have risks”.
However, Dr Jay Bhattacharya, acting head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said authorities did not want to cause public panic, stressing that human-to-human transmission remains rare and should not be treated similarly to Covid-19.
Greek authorities also placed a 70-year-old passenger from the same vessel under preventive isolation at Attikon University Hospital. Officials confirmed he has shown no symptoms and is being monitored purely as a precaution under international public health protocols.
The Hellenic National Public Health Organization said it is cooperating with hospital authorities to ensure continuous monitoring.
Authorities across multiple countries continue heightened surveillance measures, including testing, isolation and contact tracing, while maintaining that the risk of a major outbreak remains very low.
Also read: How worried should we be about the hantavirus outbreak?
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