90-Second Read: U.S. and French Nationals Test Positive for Hantavirus After Leaving Cruise Ship

An American and a French national, who have returned to their respective home countries after being evacuated from the cruise ship hit by a deadly Hantavirus outbreak, have both tested positive. A French woman who was evacuated from the MV Hondius and repatriated to Paris on Sunday tested positive for the virus and her health is deteriorating, French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said Monday. Meanwhile, four contact passengers from the cruise ship with German citizenship and residency were taken to a special isolation unit at Frankfurt University ⁠Hospital after arriving overnight, according to German health authorities on Monday. The woman was one of five French passengers who left the ship over the weekend and is now in a specialist infectious disease hospital.

Passengers aboard the MV Hondius began disembarking Sunday after the ship arrived in Spain's Canary Islands, with personnel in full protective suits and breathing masks pictured escorting passengers. The Dutch-flagged cruise ship is expected to sail to the Netherlands carrying part of the passengers' luggage for disinfection, as well as the body of one of the three deceased passengers. Dutch nationals are expected to be isolated at home for six weeks, while foreign passengers remaining in the Netherlands will be quarantined by municipal health authorities. The passengers arrived in Omaha early Monday morning, the University of Nebraska Medical Center confirmed.

Health Security Agency confirmed Monday that these passengers had arrived at Arrowe Park Hospital and will receive clinical assessments in a period of 72 hours. The Andes virus is the only type of Hantavirus that is known to spread person-to-person. It can be passed through "close and prolonged contact, particularly among household members, intimate partners and people providing medical care," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a May 7 briefing. The outbreak aboard the MV Hondius began after the vessel departed Argentina, with two Dutch people and a German national dying onboard.

Spain's civil protection agency confirmed Monday that the ship has been refueled and is set to sail at 7 p.m. None of those passengers have been reported as presenting symptoms thus far. A Dutch flight carrying 26 passengers from the MV Hondius landed Sunday evening at Eindhoven Airport.