By Emmanuel Bobby
A French passenger infected during the deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard the expedition cruise ship MV Hondius is now in critical condition and being treated with an artificial lung at a Paris hospital, as health officials race to contain what has become the first known hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship.
The outbreak has now reached 11 reported cases, including nine confirmed infections, according to international health authorities. Three people have died, among them a Dutch couple believed to have been among the first passengers exposed to the virus during travel in South America before boarding the vessel.
Doctors treating the French woman described her condition as extremely serious.
Dr. Xavier Lescure, an infectious disease specialist at Bichat Hospital, said the patient is suffering from a severe form of hantavirus that has caused major lung and heart complications.
“She is in a very critical situation,” Lescure explained Tuesday.
The woman is currently connected to an advanced life-support system known as ECMO, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, which temporarily replaces the function of the lungs by pumping blood through an artificial oxygenation system before returning it to the body.
Doctors hope the machine will reduce pressure on her damaged organs and provide enough time for her lungs and heart to recover naturally.
Lescure described the intervention as “the final stage of supportive care,” underscoring the seriousness of her condition.
WHO Says No Evidence Yet of Wider Global Spread
Despite growing concern surrounding the outbreak, World Health Organization officials stressed Tuesday that there is currently no evidence of broader community transmission beyond those directly connected to the cruise ship.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said all confirmed and suspected cases so far involve passengers or crew members from the MV Hondius.
“At the moment, there is no sign that we are seeing the start of a larger outbreak,” Tedros told reporters.
However, he cautioned that health officials remain concerned because hantavirus has a long incubation period, meaning additional infections could still emerge in the coming weeks.
“The situation could change,” he warned. “Given the long incubation period of the virus, it’s possible we might see more cases.”
Spain Confirms Additional Passenger Infection
Spain’s Health Ministry announced Tuesday that another passenger from the cruise ship had tested positive after being evacuated from the vessel.
The infected passenger, a Spanish citizen, is currently being isolated and monitored at a military hospital in Madrid.
The new case pushes the total number of confirmed infections even higher as health authorities across Europe continue monitoring evacuated passengers who returned home following the ship’s quarantine operation near the Spanish island of Tenerife.
Massive International Evacuation Operation Completed
The evacuation of the MV Hondius was completed Monday night after an extensive multinational operation involving medical personnel in full protective equipment.
A total of 87 passengers and 35 crew members were transported ashore in Tenerife under strict isolation procedures. Officials used small boats to transfer passengers from the anchored ship to the island while attempting to minimize any possible transmission risks.
Passengers wore face masks and full-body protective suits during the evacuation process, while buses transported them directly to airports for specially arranged repatriation flights.
Several countries coordinated charter flights to return citizens home safely under quarantine conditions.
Two overnight flights landed in the southern Dutch city of Eindhoven carrying Dutch nationals, passengers from Australia and New Zealand, and crew members from the Philippines. Dutch authorities confirmed all arrivals were placed into mandatory quarantine.
Meanwhile, a reduced crew remains aboard the MV Hondius as the ship sails toward Rotterdam, where it will undergo extensive cleaning and disinfection procedures.
The vessel is operated by Oceanwide Expeditions.
Argentina Launches Investigation Into Source of Virus
Authorities in Argentina announced Tuesday that scientific experts will travel to investigate the possible origin of the outbreak.
Health officials believe the Dutch couple who later died may have been exposed to infected rodents while traveling through Argentina and neighboring countries before boarding the cruise.
Investigators are focusing on a bird-watching excursion the couple reportedly took near a garbage dump where rodent activity was observed.
Officials suspect the area may have exposed the travelers to contaminated rodent droppings or urine carrying the virus.
Argentina’s Health Ministry said experts will examine the landfill site along with several additional locations visited by the couple before departure.
However, some local officials in the Argentine province where the cruise began have disputed suggestions that the outbreak originated there, arguing there is not yet enough evidence to confirm the source.
Understanding the Andes Hantavirus Strain
Health experts say the outbreak involves the Andes strain of hantavirus, one of the few forms of the virus known to occasionally spread between humans under rare circumstances.
Most hantaviruses are transmitted through exposure to rodent urine, saliva, or droppings, particularly in enclosed or poorly ventilated environments.
The virus typically causes symptoms including fever, muscle pain, chills, fatigue, and severe respiratory distress.
In serious cases, patients can develop hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a life-threatening condition in which the lungs rapidly fill with fluid.
The WHO estimates fatality rates for severe hantavirus infections can range between 40% and 50%.
Symptoms may appear anywhere from one to eight weeks after exposure, making monitoring efforts especially difficult.
Tedros urged all passengers and crew members to remain isolated for 42 days, which health officials believe represents the maximum incubation window.
The WHO, however, cannot legally enforce quarantine measures, meaning countries are implementing different monitoring systems based on their own public health policies.
Dutch Hospital Workers Placed in Quarantine
Concerns about possible exposure have now extended to hospital staff treating infected passengers.
Radboud University Medical Center confirmed Monday night that 12 employees were ordered into precautionary quarantine for six weeks after improperly handling bodily fluids from an infected patient.
The hospital stressed the risk of transmission remains low but said the quarantine was necessary as a safety measure.
According to hospital officials, blood and urine samples from the infected passenger should have been processed under stricter containment procedures.
The patient involved had arrived in the Netherlands on one of the evacuation flights from Tenerife and later tested positive for hantavirus.
Global Health Officials Remain on Alert
Although authorities continue to emphasize that the outbreak remains limited, health experts say the incident has highlighted how quickly infectious diseases can spread in confined international travel settings.
Officials are now closely monitoring passengers across multiple countries while trying to determine whether the outbreak resulted solely from rodent exposure in South America or if limited person-to-person transmission occurred aboard the ship.
For now, the world’s health agencies are focusing on containment, isolation, and rapid treatment while preparing for the possibility of additional cases emerging in the weeks ahead.
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