A Spanish passenger evacuated from the cruise ship at the centre of a hantavirus outbreak has tested positive for the virus. Spain’s health ministry today said the passenger with the new confirmed case of hantavirus was in quarantine in a military hospital in Madrid.
With the evacuation of all passengers and many crew members completed, the MV Hondius is now sailing back to the Netherlands, where it will be cleaned and disinfected.
The director of the World Health Organisation, who was in Madrid, said it has now confirmed 11 cases, including three people from the cruise who died.
In a related development, the French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said government was holding two new hantavirus emergency meetings today. In a Paris hospital, a French woman evacuated from the stricken ship remained in intensive care in stable condition.
Meanwhile, 12 staff members at a Dutch hospital where a hantavirus patient is being treated were told to quarantine after incorrectly handling bodily fluids.
Health authorities say it’s the first hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship. While there is no cure or vaccine for hantavirus, the WHO says early detection and treatment improve survival rates.