New hantavirus cases have been identified among passengers from France and the United States evacuated from the cruise ship MV Hondius following the outbreak on board. Associated Press reported the development.
French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said on the morning of May 11 that one of the passengers flown to Paris the previous day from Tenerife, where the ship is currently located, tested positive for hantavirus. According to her, the woman’s condition deteriorated overnight and she is now being treated in a Paris hospital.
France evacuated five citizens from Tenerife who had been aboard the Hondius.
The U.S. Department of Health also reported two preliminary confirmed cases among Americans evacuated from the ship. One passenger is experiencing mild symptoms of the illness, while another has tested positive for hantavirus.
During the flight to the United States, the infected passengers were kept in strict isolation from the other 15 evacuated Americans who were transported from Tenerife on the same aircraft.
Earlier, representatives of Spain’s Health Ministry, the World Health Organization, and cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions had stated that none of the more than 140 people remaining aboard the Hondius were showing symptoms of the disease.
The hantavirus outbreak on the vessel has already been linked to three deaths. Following the ship’s arrival in Tenerife, foreign governments began organizing special evacuation flights for their citizens.
WHO representatives, as well as Spain’s health and interior ministers, arrived on the island to oversee the evacuation. Authorities and international organizations emphasized that the operation was being conducted under heightened safety measures and posed no threat to residents of the Canary Islands.