France Confirms First Case Of Hantavirus

A French woman evacuated from the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius has tested positive for the virus, France’s health ministry has confirmed, marking the first confirmed case in the country.

The woman, who developed symptoms after returning to France, tested positive by PCR and is being treated in a hospital specialising in infectious diseases. The country’s Health Minister, Stéphanie Rist, told France Inter on Monday that “her condition deteriorated overnight.”

The French case follows the confirmation on Sunday of a mildly positive U.S. passenger who showed no symptoms. That American was transferred to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit for monitoring.

The MV Hondius docked at Granadilla de Abona in Tenerife on Sunday after departing South America on April 1. Three people have died in the outbreak.

Five French nationals were among those evacuated and flown out of Tenerife on Sunday. French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said one of the five developed symptoms during the repatriation flight and that all were placed in strict isolation pending tests.

The total number of confirmed and probable cases linked to the ship now stands at nine, including two people confirmed to have died from the virus and one person whose death is suspected to be linked to it.

The strain involved is the Andes virus, the only hantavirus species known to be capable of limited human-to-human transmission, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

WHO has urged the public not to panic, stating that it does not expect a large-scale outbreak and that there is no evidence of a widespread risk to the general public.