The French passenger with hantavirus is in critical condition in a hospital in Paris. The WHO says there is currently no sign of a larger outbreak, though more cases may still emerge given the virus's long incubation period.
A French woman infected with the deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship is critically ill and being treated with an artificial lung, a doctor at the Paris hospital caring for the passenger said on Tuesday.
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According to the latest World Health Organisation (WHO) data from 12 May, there are 11 cases, nine of them confirmed, and three deaths, all among passengers or crew of the cruise ship.
The WHO said that it expects more cases to arise given the dynamics of spread on a ship and the virus’s incubation period, but warns that “at the moment, there is no sign that we are seeing the start of a larger outbreak.”
The agency also notes that transmission among people appears most likely during the early phase of illness, when the virus is more transmissible.
All passengers and crew are being followed up in their countries, where the WHO recommends a 42-day quarantine at home or in a facility starting from the day of departure from the ship.
How are the infected passengers?
The French passenger hospitalised in Paris has a severe form of the disease that has caused life-threatening lung and heart problems, said Dr Xavier Lescure, an infectious disease specialist at Bichat Hospital.
He said the woman is on a life-support device that pumps blood through an artificial lung, providing it with oxygen and returning it to the body.
The hope is that the device relieves enough pressure on the lungs and heart to give them some time to recover. Lescure called it “the final stage of supportive care.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that the situation regarding hantavirus was "under control" in France, and called for a strong European coordination to contain the virus.
"The government has made the right decisions. The situation is under control under its authority, thanks to our healthcare workers," Macron said during a press conference in Nairobi at the close of the Africa Forward summit.
A Spanish passenger quarantined in the Gómez Ulla Central Defence Hospital in Madrid also tested positive on Tuesday.
The patient had low-grade fever and mild respiratory symptoms. “They are currently stable with no evident clinical deterioration,” the Spanish Health Ministry wrote on a post on X.
Passengers in quarantine
All passengers have now been transferred to their home countries, in an operation described as a "success" by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“All suspected and confirmed cases have been isolated and managed under strict medical supervision, minimising the risk of further transmission,” Tedros said.
The WHO's recommendations include strict supervision at home or in a quarantine facility for 42 days, starting to count from 10 May.
How is hantavirus transmitted?
Humans can become infected with hantavirus through contact with contaminated urine, droppings, or the saliva of infected rodents.
Activities that involve contact with rodents, such as cleaning enclosed or poorly ventilated spaces, farming, forestry work, and sleeping in rodent-infested environments, increase the risk.
Human-to-human transmission is rare and has been documented among household members or intimate partners, according to the World Health Organization.
Signs and symptoms of the Andes virus appear between four and 42 days after exposure to the virus. Typically, people are only infectious while they have symptoms, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
