90-Second Read: More Hantavirus cases emerge as passengers debark cruise ship

Two other American passengers, including one who is showing symptoms of Hantavirus, are being held at Emory University in Atlanta. So far no cases have been identified in anyone other than passengers on the Dutch cruise ship. Public health staff from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will meet passengers in Tenerife, Spain as they deboard a cruise ship that has been at the center of a Hantavirus outbreak.

In the Americas, Hantaviruses can cause Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), a severe and potentially deadly disease that affects the lungs. Yesterday, French authorities confirmed that a woman who had been on the ship and developed symptoms during her flight home to Paris has been confirmed to have Hantavirus. The outbreak of the rodent-carried virus occurred on a Dutch cruise ship traveling between Argentina and the Canary Islands.

Among the 8 suspected cases, only 3 have been confirmed by laboratory testing. While one patient is in an intensive care unit at a South African hospital and three passengers are dead, the other suspected case-patients are reported to have mild illness. Among those who debarked yesterday are 18 Americans, one of whom has tested positive for the virus.