The last hour of the hantavirus outbreak detected on the MV Hondius cruise ship follows, with the news on the status of evacuated passengersthe confirmed cases in different countries and the situation of the Spaniards transferred to the Gómez Ulla Central Defense Hospital.
The health authorities clarified that during the journey no PCR tests massive deaths on board the ship, nor during navigation, due to the lack of technical capacity and the absence of epidemiological evidence to justify it at that time. The tests began to be carried out in Cape Verde both to people considered close contacts of higher risk by the ECDC epidemiologist and to the three passengers with symptoms, who were evacuated from there. The cruise ship later continued the journey with only passengers without symptoms.
The Ministry of Health confirmed this Tuesday the positive result for hantavirus of one of the 14 Spanish passengers on the cruise ship, who remains admitted to the High Level Isolation and Treatment Unit (UATAN) of the Gómez Ulla Hospital in Madrid. The other 13 repatriates have tested negative again in the second diagnostic test.
The expansion of the outbreak has also reached the United States, where it was confirmed that one of the 17 US citizens evacuated has tested positive for hantavirus. As reported by the US Department of Health, “one passenger currently has mild symptoms and another passenger tested positive in the PCR test for the Andes variety.”
For its part, France has also confirmed its first positive case related to the outbreak. The French Minister of Health reported that one of the five people evacuated from Tenerife He presented symptoms during the flight and later tested positive for hantavirus. All French passengers remain isolated while medical testing and epidemiological monitoring continue.