Biological samples from an Italian man were transferred to a specialist hospital for testing on Tuesday, after he was suspected of contracting hantavirus. Meanwhile, World Health Organization boss Tedros Ghebreyesus said there were “no sign” of a larger outbreak linked to the MV Hondius cruise.
Italy is testing biological samples from two individuals for possible hantavirus infection: an Argentine tourist who has been hospitalised with pneumonia and a man from Calabria who is in voluntary isolation, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday.
According to the ministry, the Argentine tourist left an endemic area in Argentina on 30 April and travelled to Italy on a Buenos Aires–Rome flight before later visiting Sicily, where she was admitted to hospital with pneumonia. Her sample was sent to the Spallanzani infectious diseases hospital in Rome for analysis, alongside that of a 25-year-old man from Calabria who had briefly been in contact with a Dutch woman who later died from the virus.
In a separate case, a British tourist was located in Milan and placed in quarantine after UK authorities warned he had been on the same flight as the Dutch woman. A travelling companion was also taken to the hospital as a precaution.
Hantavirus is mainly transmitted by rodents, though human-to-human transmission is rare, according to the World Health Organization. It typically causes flu-like symptoms, including fever and fatigue, appearing one to eight weeks after exposure. The WHO has linked a recent cluster of cases to the MV Hondius cruise ship, which docked in Spain’s Canary Islands after departing Argentina, and has raised its confirmed case tally to nine. It said more cases could emerge due to the long incubation period, but stressed that the outbreak is not a pandemic and is not comparable to COVID-19.
The British tourist had also travelled on a St Helena–Johannesburg flight with Mirjam Schilperoord, the wife of the first known victim. Schilperoord later transferred to a KLM flight to the Netherlands but was deemed too unwell to travel, removed from the aircraft, collapsed at the airport, and died the following day.
The Calabrian man had also been on the same KLM flight. Although any exposure is believed to have been brief, health authorities are continuing to monitor passengers and crew across several countries.
French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist has said it is still unclear whether the hantavirus involved in the outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship may have mutated, although officials remain “rather reassured”.
She told the French National Assembly that the full genetic sequencing of the virus has not yet been completed, meaning scientists cannot confirm with certainty whether any mutation has occurred. However, she stressed that early findings are not alarming.
Epidemiologist Olivier Schwartz from the Pasteur Institute said that two viral samples from the outbreak have been sequenced so far, one from Zurich and another in Paris. Both appear very similar, suggesting no significant change in the virus. He added that while a variant remains a theoretical risk, there is currently no evidence of one emerging.
The World Health Organisation has also stated there is nothing unusual about the strain beyond its location. The outbreak is linked to the Andes strain of hantavirus, previously seen in Argentina, where a similar outbreak ended in 2019.
So far, the WHO has confirmed nine cases and warned that more infections may still emerge due to close contact between passengers before detection, though there is no sign of wider spread.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the situation is “currently under control”, citing strong contact tracing procedures. Authorities have identified 22 contact cases, all of whom are being tested and quarantined, with no serious concerns reported so far.
Among the five French nationals on board, one woman has tested positive and is currently in intensive care, while the other four have tested negative.
It is not yet confirmed whether the hantavirus that struck passengers on the the MV Hondius cruise ship has mutated, French Health Minister Stephanie Rist said on Tuesday.
"There are things ... we do not know about this virus," Rist told France's National Assembly. "We do not yet have the complete sequencing of the virus which allows us to say with certainty today, even if we are rather reassured to date, we do not have the certainty to say that this virus has not yet mutated."
An Italian man with suspected hantavirus has had his biological samples transferred to Rome's Lazarro Spallanzani infectious disease hospital for testing, Italy's ANSA news agency has reported.
The 25-year-old from the southern region of Calabria has been placed in quarantine after travelling on a Dutch KLM flight alongside a woman who later died from a hantavirus infection, ANSA added.
France is stepping-up coordiantion with neighbouring countries due to the health risks posed by hantavirus, the French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has said.
"In the face of the health risk posed by hantavirus, improved international coordination is essential," he said in a post on X.
"I have asked the ministers to immediately strengthen cooperation with neighboring states and to push for closer coordination of the health protocols in place within the European Union and the Schengen Area," he added.
Lecornu said that the French Health Minister had already spoken to a number of other European countries with passengers from the MV Hondius in order to coordinate the public health response and share information.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there is currently “no sign” that authorities are seeing the start of a larger hantavirus outbreak linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship.
Tedros also said that, as far as the WHO is aware, all passengers who disembarked from the vessel have now been located as international tracing and quarantine efforts continue following the outbreak.
WHO, reportedly, expects additional hantavirus cases linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship outbreak due to extensive interaction among passengers before the infection was confirmed.
The Spaniard who tested positive for hantavirus after being evacuated from the cruise ship MV Hondius has developed fever and breathing difficulties, Spain’s Health Ministry said on Tuesday.
However, the ministry added that the patient remains stable and has shown no evident clinical deterioration.
The individual is being treated in a military hospital in Madrid, where 13 other quarantined evacuees have tested negative for the virus.
Two planes carrying 28 passengers from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius have landed in the Netherlands, with eight Dutch nationals among those repatriated, authorities said on Tuesday (12 May).
The aircraft arrived at Eindhoven Airport shortly after midnight, while other passengers will continue onward to their home countries from the Netherlands, officials said.
In a separate development, a Dutch hospital treating a hantavirus patient has placed 12 staff members into six-week preventive quarantine after blood and urine were handled without updated safety protocols.
The hospital admitted a Hondius passenger infected with hantavirus on 7 May and said it will review procedures to prevent future incidents.
Meanwhile, the MV Hondius has now set sail for the Netherlands with 25 crew members, a doctor and a nurse on board after all passengers disembarked.
It is expected to arrive by 17 May, according to ship operator Oceanwide Expeditions.
Spain’s Health Ministry said on Monday that one Spaniard quarantining in Madrid after being evacuated from the cruise ship MV Hondius in Tenerife has tested positive for hantavirus.
The ministry said the patient showed no symptoms and was in good condition, adding that additional tests were underway and a definitive result would be confirmed in the coming hours.
Thirteen other Spaniards quarantining at the same military hospital tested negative for the virus, according to an official statement.
The MV Hondius has been linked to an outbreak of the Andes strain of hantavirus, prompting coordinated evacuations and quarantine measures across multiple countries.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services officials said on Monday (11 May) that 18 passengers from the hantavirus-hit MV Hondius have been flown back to the United States and placed under quarantine, with one positive case isolated in a Nebraska biocontainment unit.
Officials said 16 passengers are being monitored at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and two in Atlanta, including one symptomatic patient treated at Emory University’s specialised isolation unit.
The group was aboard the luxury expedition cruise ship linked to an outbreak of the Andes strain of hantavirus, the only known variant capable of limited person-to-person transmission.
The World Health Organization said on Monday that seven cases have now been confirmed among passengers from the ship.
Officials said the Atlanta patients include a couple, one of whom is symptomatic, while the other is being monitored. Nebraska officials said the isolated patient there is “doing well” and remains symptom-free.
Health authorities stressed the risk to the general public remains very low.
Admiral Brian Christine, assistant secretary for health, said the virus “does not spread easily” and typically requires prolonged close contact with a symptomatic person.
President Donald Trump, asked about the U.S. response, said, “I think (it was) fine,” and added, “No, I’m glad,” when asked about withdrawing from the WHO.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr said U.S. authorities had been coordinating since early in the outbreak and had prepared aircraft and specialist teams in Tenerife.
The quarantined group includes 17 U.S. citizens and one British dual national, with monitoring expected to continue for up to 42 days.
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