An American citizen and a French woman who returned to their countries after abandoning the cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak have tested positive for the infection, according to authorities.
The U.S. Department of Health reported that a second U.S. citizen aboard the repatriation flight had also exhibited mild symptoms, adding that both passengers had traveled back in “biocontainment units out of an abundance of caution.”
French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said one woman was in quarantine and her health was deteriorating, with 22 contact-traced cases.
More than 90 passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship, currently docked in Spain’s Canary Islands, are being repatriated.
Three passengers, a Dutch couple and a German woman, have died after traveling on the boat. Two of them have been confirmed to have the virus.
Hantavirus is usually carried by rodents, but human transmission of the Andean strain – which the World Health Organization (WHO) believes was contracted by some of the passengers on the Dutch ship when it was in South America – is possible.
Symptoms may include fever, extreme fatigue, muscle pain, upset stomach, vomiting, diarrhea, and breathing difficulties.
Authorities say the risk of widespread contagion is low.
In a statement issued early Monday, the US Department of Health and Human Services stated that all 17 American passengers on the flight “will undergo clinical evaluation” at a medical center in Nebraska.
Seven other American passengers had already returned and are being monitored in their states of residence.
A British citizen living in the US was evacuated with the 17 American passengers.
Before the case in the United States was confirmed, WHO director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the decision made by the United States not to follow his organization’s guidelines on the hantavirus outbreak “could have risks.”
The WHO recommended 42 days of isolation for those leaving the MV Hondius.
But Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, acting director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said he did not want to cause public panic, insisting that human-to-human transmission was rare and should not be treated like the Covid virus.
Cruise passengers were photographed wearing blue robes, puffy caps and face masks as they disembarked at the port of Grandilla de Abona in Tenerife on Sunday.
There were five French citizens on board the boat.
On Sunday, a plane carrying 20 British citizens landed in the United Kingdom.
The passengers arrived at Manchester Airport on a chartered flight from Tenerife and were taken to Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral, Merseyside, to undergo 72-hour isolation. None have reported symptoms.
Two other Britons with confirmed cases are being treated in the Netherlands and South Africa.
In Spain, 14 citizens of that country who were taken on a flight to Madrid are in mandatory quarantine in a military clinic. Two more evacuation flights are scheduled for Monday afternoon.
Another separate flight with 26 passengers and crew – including eight Dutch – arrived in the Netherlands on Sunday.
Six passengers are returning to Australia and another 18 will be taken to the Netherlands. Both planes are also carrying passengers from other nations that did not send their own repatriation flights.
Urania reported that four of its citizens would remain on board the MV Hondius as part of the crew ensuring the transfer of the vessel to the Netherlands. The Foreign Office stated that upon arrival they could expect to be quarantined in a medical centre.
Another Ukrainian citizen is expected to leave the ship as part of a partial crew evacuation on a flight to the Netherlands.
Currently, there have been no signs of infection among Ukrainians, the ministry added.
An elderly Dutchman was the first passenger to die aboard the MV Hondius on April 11. He had previously developed symptoms, but his case is only considered probable because no tests were performed.
His wife, a 69-year-old woman, abandoned ship on the island of Saint Helena on April 24 and flew to South Africa. He died two days later in a Johannesburg clinic.
A German woman died aboard the cruise ship on May 2.
Both women are confirmed cases of the infection.
The MV Hondius set sail from the southern Argentine city of Ushuaia on April 1, and is currently docked in the port of Granadilla, in the south of Tenerife.
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