90-Second Read: 2 passengers, French and American, test positive for Hantavirus after cruise ship evacuation

Three people, including two Americans, tested positive or showed symptoms of Hantavirus after evacuating the cruise ship at the center of the outbreak. Health authorities say it's the first-ever Hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship. An American who tested positive for Hantavirus on the cruise ship was taken to the Omaha campus' biocontainment unit and will be tested again. A French woman was the latest to be confirmed as infected, while an American is suspected of infection after initial testing.

The French woman who tested positive for the Hantavirus is in intensive care in stable condition at a Paris hospital, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said Monday. It wasn't until early May that the WHO said it was reacting to a suspected Hantavirus outbreak on the ship, which by that time was off the West African island nation of Cape Verde. But the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases. The ship's captain, Jan Dobrogowski, issued a video message Monday praising passengers and crew for their courage and perseverance, and he called for respect for their privacy.

The lab results of the American who tested positive were inconclusive, WHO spokesperson Sarah Tyler said Monday. While there is no cure or vaccine for Hantavirus, the WHO says early detection and treatment improves survival rates. South African health authorities said on Monday that the condition of a British man admitted to a hospital in Johannesburg and being treated for Hantavirus was gradually improving. Hantavirus usually spreads from rodent droppings and is not easily transmitted between people.

Symptoms, which can include fever, chills and muscle aches, usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure. Tedros of the WHO advised that returning passengers should stay in quarantine, either in their homes or in other facilities, for 42 days. The Hondius left the southern Argentine port of Ushuaia on April 1 and a Dutch passenger died on board April 11.