90-Second Read: Last passengers leave virus-hit cruise ship as three more test positive

The last passengers have left the Hantavirus-hit cruise ship, as authorities confirmed three new positive cases linked to the deadly outbreak. Three passengers have died after travelling on the ship, two of whom were confirmed to have had the virus. Spain's health ministry said one Spaniard who is quarantining in Madrid after being evacuated from the vessel had also provisionally tested positive for Hantavirus on Monday. An American and a French national who have returned home have tested positive for Hantavirus.

Hantaviruses are usually carried by rodents, but human transmission of the Andes strain, which the WHO believes some of the ship's passengers contracted in South America, is possible. Before the American case was confirmed, WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the decision by the US not to follow the organisation's guidelines over the Hantavirus outbreak "may have risks". Cruise ship passengers were pictured wearing blue gowns, bouffant caps and medical face masks as they disembarked in Tenerife. Two British nationals with confirmed cases are currently being treated in the Netherlands and South Africa.

The MV Hondius departed Tenerife for the Netherlands on Monday after its final six passengers, four Australians, one Briton and one New Zealander, and some crew members disembarked. The US health department said a second American national on Sunday's repatriation flight had also shown mild symptoms, adding that both passengers had travelled back in "biocontainment units out of an abundance of caution". French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said a woman was isolating in Paris and that her health was deteriorating, with 22 contacts traced. More than 90 passengers of the MV Hondius, which was docked in Spain's Canary Islands, have been repatriated over the past few days.

Authorities said they would self-isolate and be monitored for at least three weeks. A separate flight carrying 26 passengers and crew, including eight Dutch nationals, arrived in the Netherlands on Sunday. Seven other US passengers had already returned home and are being monitored in their home states.