90-Second Read: Spanish passenger on MV Hondius tests positive for Hantavirus after being evacuated from cruise ship

A Spanish national who evacuated from the MV Hondius cruise ship tested positive for Hantavirus after a deadly outbreak killed three passengers and infected more on the luxury liner, health officials announced. The latest case of the rodent-borne disease was detected while the infected traveler was quarantining under clinical surveillance with 13 other Spaniards aboard the Hantavirus-ridden Dutch vessel at Gómez Ulla Hospital in Madrid, according to the Spanish Health Ministry. The passengers have been in isolation since being evacuated on May 10.

Health officials stressed that the case poses no risk to the public. Hantavirus is usually spread through rodent droppings, but one rare strain, the Andes virus, can spread between people and carries a 40% mortality rate, and is blamed for the deadly cruise ship outbreak. The weeks-long Atlantic cruise, which departed from Argentina on March 20, spiraled into a nightmare when an elderly Dutch couple carried the Andes strain onboard after contracting it in Argentina last month.

The couple and a German passenger died, with the rampant virus putting dozens more at risk. Eighteen Americans, including three New Yorkers, on the ill-fated vessel were flown back to the US and quarantined earlier this month, with one testing positive. Officials said the stricken patient was in "close contact" with an ill traveler on the doomed ship.