Evacuated US and French MV Hondius passengers test positive for hantavirus

"The French woman was one of five French passengers who disembarked from the ship in Tenerife on Sunday before being flown to a hospital in Paris. The French health minister, Stephanie Rist, said the woman was in a serious condition on Monday. Rist said the woman started to feel very unwell on Sunday night and tests came back positive. Rist told France Inter radio: Unfortunately, her symptoms worsened overnight. She is being treated in a specialised infectious diseases unit of a hospital in Paris."

"An American passenger who was flown to Nebraska along with 16 others on Sunday evening also tested positive but had no symptoms. The US health department said one American national evacuated from the ship had tested positive for the Andes strain the only hantavirus strain that is transmissible between humans and another had mild symptoms. Personnel in full-body protective gear and breathing masks began escorting the travellers from ship to shore in Tenerife in the Canary Islands on Sunday in an effort that was continuing on Monday."

"More than 100 people of 23 nationalities are to be evacuated in less than 48 hours an in operation described by Spanish authorities as complex and unprecedented. Three passengers from the MV Hondius a Dutch couple and a German woman have died, while others have fallen sick with the rare disease, which usually spreads among rodents. No vaccines or specific treatments exist for hantavirus, which is endemic in Argentina, where the ship departed in April."

"But health officials have insisted that the risk for global public health is low and played down comparisons to the Covid-19 pandemic. Rist said 22 more contact cases had been identified among French nationals, including eight people who had travelled on an 25 April fligh"

A French woman evacuated from a cruise ship in Tenerife tested positive for hantavirus and was in serious condition, with symptoms worsening overnight after she began feeling unwell on Sunday night. She was flown to a hospital in Paris for treatment in a specialized infectious diseases unit. An American passenger flown to Nebraska also tested positive for the Andes strain, the only hantavirus strain transmissible between humans, while another American had mild symptoms. Personnel in full protective gear escorted travelers from ship to shore as evacuations continued. Three passengers died, and others became ill with a rare disease usually spread among rodents. No vaccines or specific treatments exist, and officials stated global public health risk is low.

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