90-Second Read: French Hantavirus patient is critically ill and on an artificial lung as outbreak grows to 11

A doctor says a French woman being treated for Hantavirus after being infected on a cruise ship is critically ill and being treated with an artificial lung. The outbreak has now reached 11 total reported cases, 9 of which have been confirmed. Health authorities say it is the first Hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship. All confirmed cases are among passengers or crew of the MV Hondius cruise ship.

A Dutch couple, identified by the WHO as the first cruise passengers infected with Hantavirus, spent several months in Argentina and neighboring South American countries before boarding the cruise ship. But the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases. This story has been corrected to show that the WHO says nine Hantavirus cases have been confirmed worldwide. Lescure called it "the final stage of supportive care." 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 French passenger hospitalized in Paris has a severe form of the disease that has caused life-threatening lung and heart problems, said Dr. While there is no cure or vaccine for Hantavirus, the WHO says early detection and treatment improves survival rates. Argentina's health ministry said Tuesday a team of scientific experts will be dispatched in the coming days to investigate the origin of outbreak. Hantavirus usually spreads from rodent droppings and is not easily transmitted between people.

A total of 87 passengers and 35 crew were escorted from the ship to shore in Tenerife by personnel in full-body protective gear and breathing masks in a carefully choreographed effort that ended Monday night. Two aircraft arrived in the southern Dutch city of Eindhoven overnight carrying Dutch nationals as well as passengers from Australia and New Zealand and crew members from the Philippines. Argentine officials have said the couple took a bird-watching tour that included a stop at a garbage dump where they may have been exposed to rodents carrying the infection.