90-Second Read: US national on repatriation flight tests positive for Hantavirus

An American and a French national who have returned to their home countries having left a cruise ship hit by a deadly outbreak of Hantavirus have tested positive, authorities say. The US health department said a second American national on the repatriation flight had also shown mild symptoms, adding that both passengers had travelled back in "biocontainment units out of an abundance of caution". Hantaviruses are usually carried by rodents, but human transmission of the Andes strain, which the World Health Organization (WHO) believes was contracted by some of the Dutch ship's passengers while in South America, is possible. French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said a woman was isolating in Paris and her health was deteriorating, with 22 contact cases had been traced. In its statement early on Monday, the.

Before the American case was confirmed, WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the decision by the US not to follow his organisation's guidelines over the Hantavirus outbreak "may have risks". A separate flight with 26 passengers and crew, including eight Dutch nationals, arrived in the Netherlands on Sunday. Both planes are also taking passengers from other countries which did not send their own repatriation flights. There were five French nationals sailing on board the vessel. On Sunday, a plane carrying 20 British nationals arrived in the UK.

The American national has arrived in Nebraska, while a French woman is isolating in Paris. A British national who resides in the US was evacuated along with the 17 American passengers. But Dr Jay Bhattacharya, the acting head of the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said he did not want to cause public panic, insisting that human-to-human transmission was rare and it should not be treated like the Covid virus. Another Ukrainian national was expected to leave the ship as part of the partial crew evacuation on a flight to the Netherlands. Symptoms can include fever, extreme fatigue, muscle aches, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and shortness of breath.

The passengers flew into Manchester Airport on a chartered flight from Tenerife and were taken to Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral, Merseyside, to isolate for 72 hours. Two other British nationals with confirmed cases are now being treated in the Netherlands and South Africa. Officials say the risk of a major outbreak is very low. Another two evacuation flights are scheduled for Monday afternoon. He had earlier developed symptoms, but is considered a probable case as no tests have been carried out.